Planes to get GAGAN

Planes imported after January 2019 should be suitably equipped with indigenous navigation system GAGAN, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has said.

The air transport circular issued last Wednesday on procedure to obtain permission for importing or acquiring aircrafts said: “All the aircraft being imported for registration on or after 01.01.2019 shall be required to be suitably equipped with GAGAN equipment.”

By launching GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) in July 2015, India has become the fourth country in the world to have its own satellite navigation system.

“However, most aircraft currently registered in India are not equipped to utilise this technology,” it said. 

The national civil aviation policy requires all aircraft being registered from January 1, 2019 to mandatory be GAGAN-enabled. GAGAN uses a system of ground stations to provide augmentations to the GPS standard positioning service navigation signal.