Gagan

There are many reasons for Indian airlines, a perpetually struggling lot, to be hopeful: more foreign funding, more overseas routes and cheaper oil. Yet, more than all this, what could embellish the bottom line of Indian carriers next year is a new navigation system in Indian skies that, its makers say, will knock off 20% of the fuel bill of airlines and increase air traffic.

The effect can be potent as fuel costs swallow about 50% of an airline's revenues. At 20% savings, a crude calculation on 2011-12 numbers shows that Jet AirwaysBSE 0.88 % would have turned a Rs 1,236 crore loss into a Rs 90 crore profit, and SpiceJetBSE 1.08 % would have shaved off Rs 439 crore of its Rs 605 crore loss. And ifKingfisherBSE -4.91 %hadn't since gone into a freefall, even it would have knocked off Rs 589 crore of its Rs 651 crore loss for the year.

Here's how. Today, when an aircraft takes off in Indian skies, it doesn't trace a straight vertical line to a cruising height. It, instead, rises in fits and starts, with bursts of acceleration. Likewise, between two destinations, it doesn't trace the straight line -- the shortest distance. It, instead, zigs and zags.

Both manoeuvres mean airlines end up burning more fuel than ideal because current Indian air-navigation systems don't allow for the greater accuracy and surety available in some other parts of the world. This is set to change in July, 2013, when the Airports Authority of India (AAI) launches GPS-aided GEO augmented navigation system (GAGAN). "Airlines can save 20% on their fuel costs," reckons S Sundara Raman, executive director (communication, navigation & surveillance), AAI.

Straighter Routes

GAGAN will catapult India into an elite league in air navigation: this is only the fourth such system in the world, after that of the US, European Union and Japan (see graphic). "It's an eye in the sky," says Amber Dubey partner, aviation, KPMG. "With ground-based systems (the current system), there's a need to have systems at every few kilometre. Here, one satellite tracks everything, and far more accurately."

GAGAN is a superior version of the current GPS system: it can detect activity at a finer level. So, while aircraft in India currently keep a distance of 80-100 miles, GAGAN will reduce this to 30 miles. This will allow thrice as many planes to fly, and reduce congestion on busy routes, as well as make Indian skies safer. Raman expects a six-fold increase in time. He also estimates airlines to reduce their flying time on the Delhi-Mumbai route by 10 minutes.

A senior SpiceJet technical official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirms that airlines don't take a straight line between two destinations. "We take pre-determined routes set by the air traffic control centre. For example, between Delhi and Bangalore, we have to take a detour over Bhopal and do a series of deviations that add up to a much longer route," he says. "After GAGAN, we will have what is called 'freedom flights', leading to reduced fuel burn by 18-20%."

GAGAN will also make Indian skies safer. For example, while landing, the current system gives an aircraft the coordinates of a landing strip in a range of 20 metres. By comparison, GAGAN will give it in a range of 20 feet, thus reducing the possibility of human error. The signals on GAGAN will be beamed by three satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), located at a height of about 36,000 km. Two of these satellites have been launched. A third one is expected to be launched in 2013.