Author(s): Archana Raja and Kishore Kunal
Aviation business in India is growing at an excellent rate. This increases the need for better technological advancements in Indian airports to aid this increasing growth. One major part of airport operations is emergency response. In the dynamic airport environment, there are always a possibility of an accident or an incident. To handle this situation, airports use a detailed plan known as Airport Emergency Plan (AEP). Currently all the units of emergency response such as firefighting unit, first aid unit are independent. This leads to increased response rates and poor communication between the units and also Indian airports are far behind other global airports in terms of technology used. The study proposes a new centralized hub known as RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) Management hub for emergency response of airports which uses drones for handling different situations and also a maintenance facility for drones in the airport known as RPAS maintenance facility as drone maintenance does not require outsourcing. It will be cost effective step to cut the costs of outsourcing and marking the new era of drone management. RPAS management hub is present in the landside of the airport and constantly communicates with ATC when there are operations on the airside of airport. Drones are highly capable of performing various operations due to its ability to fly in confined spaces as well as their ability to carry various payloads. The study involves 3 major areas of focus. They are firefighting, visual aid and first aid assistance. Depending on the situation, the drones are deployed carrying different types of payloads and supporting mechanisms. This system helps in development of automation in airports and to reduce the response times and communication gap. By better visual aid, many accidents and incidents can be prevented, and lives can be saved. There is need of marketing to position it across airports as cost optimization tool.