India beats China, Russia with first plane landing using indigenous navigation system by IndiGo

IndiGo became the first airline in the country to land aircraft using the indigenous navigation system GAGAN, according to a statement issued on Thursday.

The flight was conducted using an ATR-72 aircraft and landed at the Kishangarh airport in Rajasthan on Wednesday morning, using GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation (GAGAN), which has been jointly developed by the Centre-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the statement issued by IndiGo said.

With the successful trial, India joined US, Japan and Europe in an exclusive club with their own Satellite Based Augmentation System(SBAS). Some countries are in the process of developing SBAS including China, Russia and South Korea.

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GAGAN is used to provide lateral and vertical guidance when an aircraft is approaching a runway for landing. Its precision is especially useful at small airports where the instrument landing system (ILS) has not been installed.

"In India's civil aviation sector, GAGAN will modernise the airspace, reduce flight delays, save fuel and improve flight safety," the statement said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a mandate for all aircraft registered in India after July 1, 2021 to be fitted with GAGAN equipment, it added.