CAT III landing systems to be at Airports with high traffic volumes: Minister to MP Arora

CAT III landing systems to be at Airports with high traffic volumes: Minister to MP Arora
L to R: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol and RS MP Sanjeev Arora.

Ludhiana, December 29, 2024: When the visibility drops below 800m or Runway Visual Range (RVR) drops below 550m, the CAT II/CAT Ill operations are commenced at the airports. The aerodromes certified for CAT II/CAT III operations are also required to have adequate infrastructure and instruments as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)/ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards such as Runway edge Lights, Runway Center Line Lights, Approach Lights, Runway TouchDown Zone Lights, Taxiway Center Line lights, Stopbars and CAT II/III Instrument Landing System (ILS).

This has been revealed by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in an answer to questions on "Mandatory High Visibility Light on Runways” asked by MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora in the recently concluded winter session of Rajya Sabha.

Giving this information here today, Arora said the Minister further mentioned in his answer that presently, six airports namely, Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, have one or more runways certified by DGCA for CAT II/III operations and more than 60 airports operated by AAI are equipped with ILS CAT- I and associated runway lights.

The Minister’s answer further mentioned that while there is no current mandate for all commercial airports to be equipped with CAT III systems, the decision to install such systems depends on factors such as operational demand, air traffic volume, and prevailing weather conditions at the respective airport.


Arora had asked about a list of airports in the country with runways equipped with High Visibility Lights makes it easier for pilots to land their aircraft during times of low visibility. He has also asked whether Government plans to make installation of High Visibility Lighting mandatory at all commercial airports of India in the near future, if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor.