Government is considering amending Civil Aviation rules to make it mandatory to have category II instrument landing system at all airports across the country to reduce fog-related problems.
Stating this in Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said such a step would encourage all airlines to train pilots till the CAT-II level.
He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation proposed to amend the civil aviation requirements making it mandatory for all pilots to be trained at least till the CAT-II level.
"While we want to reduce fog-related inconvenience caused to passengers, we cannot ignore safety at any cost," Patel said, adding the only Indian airport which had the highest CAT-III
He announced government's intention to upgrade four to five airports in the northern region, which are generally affected by fog during winter, to the CAT-II level.
These include Amritsar, Lucknow and Jaipur Patel said CAT-II or CAT-III training for pilots required them to first fulfil conditions of flying a minimum of 2,000 hours, 500 hours for particular types of high-technology aircraft and a minimum number of take-offs and landings.
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