AAI hosts 36th SBAS Interoperability Working Group meet

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) is hosting 36th Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) Interoperability Working Group (IWG) meet from February 4 to February 7, 2020, at Aloft Hotel, Aerocity, New Delhi. AAI's Member (ANS) Vineet Gulati inaugurated the event on Tuesday by lighting the lamp in the presence of IWG's Co-Chairpersons Greg Thompson and Dr Didier Flament, senior officials from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and delegates from IWG member countries like USA, Europe, Japan, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea etc.

The four-day meet will focus on the status of SBAS Procedures, Implementation and Plans along with various technical sessions by IWG Member Countries like the US, Canada, Africa, Australia and others. The SBAS IWG meetings are co-chaired by the representative from USA and Europe with the participation from other Air Navigation service providers of the operational Satellite Base Augmentation System (SBAS) -EGNOS-Europe, WAAS-USA, C-WAAS-Canada, MSAS-Japan.

The SBAS Interoperability Working Group (IWG) is a forum for SBAS providers to address issues related to the interoperability of SBAS systems, with a goal of providing seamless operations for users. The upcoming SBAS service providers in the world are BDSBAS-China, KASS-South Korea, ASECNA-Africa, SDCM-Russia, SPAN-Australia and New Zealand. With the implementation of SBAS services by said countries, seamless navigation for safe & efficient aircraft operations can be provided all over the world using satellite-based technology.

AAI is also hosting an outreach event on 6th February 2020 with various airlines, receiver/aircraft original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) to deliberate on the adaption of SBAS utilization by civil aviation industry. It is expected that various international/domestic airlines, receiver/aircraft OEMs will participate in the outreach event.

During the inaugural address, Vineet Gulati said, "It is an honour for the Airports Authority of India for hosting the 36th SBAS Interoperability Working Group Meet where delegates from multiple countries are participating today. We are in talks with neighbouring countries for provision of using Indian Satellite-based Augmentation Systems – GAGAN."

It is an honour for the Airports Authority of India for hosting the 36th SBAS Interoperability Working Group Meet where delegates from multiple countries are participating: Vineet Gulati, Member (ANS), AAI

India's Satellite-based Navigation program "GAGAN" (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) has been jointly conceived and developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). GAGAN has been certified by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for enroute (RNP 0.1) operations since December 2013 and for Approach with Vertical guidance (APV 1) operations since April 2015 and joined the elite group of countries like USA, Europe and Japan in the field of satellite-based navigation.

Being the sole provider of Air Navigation Services in the country, AAI is taking all necessary steps to be continually responsive to the needs of the aviation community. AAI is striving to achieve its mission of matching the other major ANSPs in providing world-class services and taking the leadership position in the global arena.

Apart from this, AAI is also planning for expansion of GAGAN services to neighbouring countries and also in the process for the development of GAGAN based LPV procedures for airports in India.

Disclaimer: This story is a press release and is being published without any editing by PSU Watch desk. Our editorial team has only changed the headline.