Landing at Sofia Airport is now possible at just 75 meters visibility
13.11.2013
Sofia Airport now has a higher category of instrumental landing system. This happened after the introduction within the State enterprise "Air Traffic Control" and "Sofia Airport" of procedures that allow aircraft operators to conduct approach and landing of aircraft in conditions of a minimum visibility of 75 meters, category III B. The new rules come into effect from 2:00 on November 14, 2013 (Thursday).
These procedures will reduce the number of airplanes that in bad weather are diverted for landing and taking off from a reserve airport. This will save the inconvenience to passengers and airlines, and will not lead to an increase in service charges and ticket prices.
To increase its category, Sofia Airport replaced the steel fence in the sensitive area with radiolucent made of fiber-armored polymer. It allows landing in very dense fog and prevents external influence to distort the ray of the antenna that directs the landing.
Category III is divided into three types - A, B and C. Category III B provides the necessary security for landing with 75 meters visibility. The previous category III A allowed the pilots to land in poor weather conditions with visibility of 200 meters. Last category III C allows landing in zero visibility.
Few airports in the world operate in conditions of low visibility in Category III B. To perform landing following the instructions of the instrumental landing system Category III B, it is necessary the airplane to be specially equipped and the crew to have the necessary qualifications. However, the pilot and the airline in a particular situation may decide to cancel the landing because they assess the degree of certainty. |