No more flight delays, cancellations due to fog at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru! In a sigh of relief, passengers and travellers flying in and out of this Karnataka airport may soon witness no more delays or cancellations of flights. The menace of fog disruptions may no longer haunt the flyers as Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), which runs Bengaluru airport, has signed an agreement with Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) under which a study would be conducted on atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of the Bengaluru Airport. This is a first-of-its-kind agreement in the country to study the fog.
Based on the study, a Numerical Simulation Tool would be developed. The tool will subsequently predict the onset, dissipation and intensity of fog. Once the tool starts functioning, it would bring relief for flyers during the winter months when the fog disruptions seem to headline the newspapers. In January, 62 flights were disrupted due to fog. Both the parties signed the agreement at a function held at the JNCASR campus. Bharat Ratna Professor CNR Rao was present in the event.
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A JNCASR team will conduct a study on the microphysics of radiation fog and transport processes in the nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer over the next 40 months. Both the parties are expecting the study will help improve the weather forecasting at BLR Airport. The team will monitor atmospheric variability, atmospheric aerosol loading, ground temperature, radiative fluxes, water vapour and energy transport as these factors influence the occurrence of fog.
The President of JNCASR Professor Nagaraja said that the exercise that will not only benefit air travellers and airlines but also data from this research would have several other uses over the long term. Hari Marar, MD and CEO, BIAL said that the BIAL’s agreement with Professors V Nagaraja and Sreenivas and the team from JNCASR will enable the availability of data that would facilitate flight planning and scheduling, directly bringing in relief to passengers.
Marar said that a second runway will be opened for operations about eight months from now. It will be CAT III B-compliant, with an advanced navigation system that empowers aircraft to land and take off under conditions of heavy fog, the BIAL CEO said.