Hyderabad Airport converts airfield ground lighting signage to LED

Hyderabad : GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad has announced that in line with its commitment to be 100% LED airport, it has completed the project of converting entire Airfield Ground Lighting (AGL) signage from CFL (Compact fluorescent lamp) to LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps.
 
A total of 132 units of AGL signage were converted from CFL to LED in a span of two weeks. More than 350 LED strips of 10W power were retrofitted to these signage. All these installations meet the mandatory regulatory requirement and maintain the required photometry level as per the operational needs. These signage are deployed across around 1700 acres of the airside.
 
LEDs are known to be highly energy efficient with a life span of more than 50,000 running hours and 90% less power consumption than incandescent bulbs - reducing power cost and saving of energy. With the upgrade to energy efficient LED signage, RGIA would save almost 45% of energy used over the conventional lights. The energy thus saved will reduce the airport’s dependency on traditional non-renewable sources of energy, slashing the greenhouse gas emission, which in this case translates to reduction of over 20,000 Kg of CO2 per annum.
 
Airfield Ground Lighting Signage acts as a guidance sign post at the airside to help the pilots in identifying the location of their aircraft while at the airside and also while taxiing to the designated areas. There are typically two kinds of signage at the airside- mandatory instruction signage and Information signage. Mandatory instruction signage has the inscription in white on a red background. This type of signage includes information on Runway Designation; Category I, II or III Holding Position; Runway-holding Position; Road-holding Position and No Entry zone. Information signage are provided where there is an operational need to identify a specific location, or routing (direction or destination) information. These include information on direction, location, runway exit, runway-vacated and intersection take-off. AGL signs are used in the night time and in case of low visibility during the daytime.
 
SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “GMR Hyderabad International Airport is committed towards environmental sustenance by maximizing the usage of green energy and energy efficient equipment. We are fast approaching to turn RGIA into a 100% LED Airport. Conversion of AGL signage into LED is one such firm step towards this commitment.”
 
Kishore further added, “Recently, Hyderabad airport has enhanced its captive solar power capacity from 5MW to 10MW. With this we would be meeting the entire energy requirement of the terminal building during the day-time. Recognizing our quantifiable endeavours towards reducing the carbon footprints, Airports Council International under its Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme has again certified us with carbon neutrality status (Level 3 + Neutrality) for 2017.”
 
GMR Hyderabad International Airport had recently converted its entire taxiway edge lights from conventional lamps to LED, becoming the first airport in South India to achieve this feat. The entire land-side of the airport has been converted to LED.