Indian airports seek ATC tower upgrade

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : New Delhi: Indian airports are looking to increase efficiency of their air traffic control towers, as aviation focused-UNO Technology witnesses high interest from state-run and private airport operators to introduce new features to their ATC infrastructure. "We aim to work on 3-4 projects per year. We are talking to 2-3 major private airport operators in India.

We are already in touch with the Adani Group," Unni Bhaskar, managing director, UNO Technology, told Mint. Recently, the company was appointed as a specialist contractor for the Noida international airport in Jewar for construction of high-vision ATC room where it is implementing innovative framing system without mullions for glazing in the visual control room. The company aims to reduce mullions or vertical bars between the glass panes of a window, which is expected to result in an obstruction-free vision for air traffic controllers and decrease fatigue level for them.

"It is difficult to quantify with a number attached to the fatigue level. However, we can say that the controllers have responded quite favourably to the design inputs and improvements by adopting a high vision control cabin design," Bhaskar said. This also helps in better acoustics, insulation from elements, and the color selection of various elements inside the cabin has a significant impact on the operational efficiency of an air traffic control cabin, he added.