India is planning to centralize its Air Traffic Control (ATC) system with the establishment of a new central command, known as the Indian Single Sky Harmonized Air Traffic Management (ISHAN), in Nagpur.
This initiative by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) aims to address the increased air traffic by consolidating the control of airspace divided into four regions: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and a sub-region in Guwahati.
ISHAN will handle domestic flights above 25,000 feet from Nagpur, thereby reducing the need for coordination across different regional controllers and improving overall air traffic management efficiency. This consolidation is expected to enhance airline operations, increase flight handling capacity, and reduce congestion and flight times, aligning with the expected growth of the aviation industry which anticipates the doubling of domestic passenger traffic by 2030.
Currently, AAI manages over 2.8 million square nautical miles of airspace, providing services that include weather updates, visibility, and search and rescue operations.
