Navy's Dornier Aircraft Carries Out Maiden Night Landing In Lakshadweep Airfield

Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy air squadron made its first night landing at the Agatti airport in the Lakshadweep islands on Friday. It was part of its attempts to provide round-the-clock marine surveillance and support to the islands.

The Navy's INAS 550 aviation squadron conducted the nighttime exercise "to revive and re-emphasize India's maritime moorings" as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, according to a Defence Ministry.

According to the announcement, the Agatti atoll, where the island archipelago's lone runway is located, is around 460 kilometres west of Kochi in the Arabian Sea.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) airstrip was inaugurated in April 1988 for the operation of Dornier 228 aircraft and ATR 72 plane began operations from there in September 2010.

However, due to the short runway length and limited airfield services available, both civil and military aircraft operations had been limited to day only.

The Southern Naval Command took the initiative to overcome this limitation under the aegis of the Indian Navy and the maiden night landing was successfully carried out in conjunction with AAI and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, according to the statement.

According to officials, the successful night testing will pave the way for future night operations of Dornier 228 aircraft from this airstrip, which would strengthen the Indian Navy's operations round-the-clock.