India Lands First Jet Using Home‑Built Satellite Guidance

Representative Image 

India has achieved a historic aviation milestone: on June 27, 2026, an IndiGo Airbus A320 successfully executed the country’s first satellite-guided commercial jet landing using the indigenous GAGAN system at Udaipur Airport, supervised by the DGCA. This marks a major leap in aviation safety and accessibility, especially for airports lacking costly ground-based landing infrastructure.

Satellite‑based augmentation systems (SBAS) are designed to work together, enabling seamless navigation across continents. LPV approaches reduce diversions, cancellations, and fuel burn.

Several countries already operate or are developing satellite‑based augmentation systems (SBAS) similar to India’s GAGAN, enabling satellite‑guided precision landings. The U.S., Europe, Japan, Canada, Russia, China, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are among the leaders.

What Happened

• Aircraft: IndiGo Airbus A320
• Date: June 27, 2026
• Location: Udaipur Airport
• System Used: GAGAN (GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation)
• Approach Type: LPV (Localiser Performance with Vertical Guidance)

Why It Matters

• Safety Boost: Provides precise horizontal and vertical guidance, reducing risks of CFIT accidents.
• Accessibility: Enables precision landings at secondary airports that lack ILS infrastructure.
• Cost Efficiency: Eliminates the need for multi-million-dollar ground installations.
• Resilience: Acts as a backup when ILS is unavailable due to maintenance or diversions.
• Global Standing: Positions India among a select group of nations with its own SBAS capability.

How GAGAN Works

• Developed by: ISRO + Airports Authority of India (AAI)
• Mechanism: Enhances GPS signals by correcting errors in real time
• Infrastructure: 15 ground reference stations across India feed correction data
• Satellites: GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 broadcast corrections, ensuring uninterrupted coverage
• Function: Acts as a “proofreader” for GPS, neutralizing anomalies like equatorial ionization errors

Comparison: ILS vs GAGAN LPV

ILS	GAGAN LPV
Ground-based radio transmitters	Satellite signals + augmentation
High installation/maintenance cost	Lower infrastructure cost
Limited to airports with ILS	Works at airports without ILS
Precision in poor weather	Comparable precision, even in low visibility
Vulnerable if equipment fails	Backup option when ILS unavailable

Implications for Indian Aviation

• IndiGo Fleet: Already introduced LPV on ATR turboprops in 2022; now expanding across jets.
• Airport Network: AAI plans 40+ LPV-enabled airports by year-end.
• Future Outlook: Wider adoption expected to reduce delays, diversions, and cancellations during adverse weather.

Next Steps for India

• Broader rollout: GAGAN-enabled procedures across regional airports.
• Integration: Into more airlines’ fleets for nationwide coverage.
• Synergy: Potential with India’s NavIC for enhanced navigation independence.

In United States Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is operational since 2003. It supports LPV‑200 approaches (ILS Category I equivalent). The are over 4,000 published LPVs serving nearly 2,000 airports. China has BeiDou SBAS (formerly SNAS).

Countries like India, Russia, and China emphasize indigenous systems to reduce reliance on foreign navigation infrastructure.

IndiGo's Group MD and Ex-CEO of Tech Mahindra Launched A New AI Venture 'AlonOS'

Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of IndiGo's parent company InterGlobe Enterprises, and CP Gurnani, former CEO of Tech Mahindra and chairman of Assago Group, have just announced a joint venture to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI) venture named 'AlonOS'. 

AlonOS, a joint venture between InterGlobe and Assago, is set to transform the Al landscape globally.

This venture aims to offer AI services, including generative AI, to clients in the travel, transportation, logistics, and hospitality industries. Headquartered in Singapore, AlonOS plans to expand its operations globally, covering regions such as North America, India, the Middle East, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.

The mission of AlonOS is to empower businesses with advanced AI solutions that enhance both human and system capabilities. It's an exciting development in the field of AI, especially with the focus on industries that can greatly benefit from AI-driven innovation.

AlonOS is set to offer a comprehensive suite of AI services designed to address the complex digital transformation challenges of businesses across various industries. Here are some of the specific AI services that AlonOS will provide:

• AI Custom Solutions: Tailored AI solutions to tackle unique digital transformation challenges and deploy AI solutions specific to enterprise needs.
• Industry-Specific Products: Products designed to address the unique challenges and opportunities within each sector.
• Data Insight Engine: Advanced analytics applied to existing data reservoirs to turn raw data into strategic assets, extracting actionable insights, and identifying new revenue streams.
• AI-led Customer Experience (CX): Delivering personalized, efficient, and scalable customer experience solutions.

Additionally, AlonOS will focus on creating an ecosystem that integrates AI into every decision-making process, enhancing operational execution and decision-making through automation and optimization. The venture will also seek partnerships with startups to provide industry-specific solutions at scale, emphasizing agility in delivery. This indicates a commitment to innovation and collaboration within the AI space.

IndiGo Parent and US-based Archer Aviation Plan Electric Air Taxis in India By Early 2026

InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent company of IndiGo, has joined forces with Archer Aviation to bring an all-electric air taxi service to India. The two companies plan to launch this service by 2026, offering a quick and efficient travel option between cities.

For instance, the service will enable passengers to travel from Connaught Place in New Delhi to Gurugram in just 7 minutes, a journey that would typically take around 90 minutes by car.

The air taxis will be electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which are designed to operate similarly to helicopters but with less noise and enhanced safety.

The cost for a 7-minute flight is expected to be around ₹2,000 to ₹3,000.

Initially, the service will focus on Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with plans to expand further. This innovative mode of transportation could significantly reduce travel time and contribute to sustainable aviation in India.

Archer Aviation's eVTOL aircraft are planned to transport people in and around cities in an air taxi service and are claimed to have a range of up to 100 miles (160 km) at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour (240 km/h).

Archer Midnight Hero

Archer Midnight interior

Midnight side profile 

Archer's Midnight, a pilot-plus-four-passenger eVTOL aircraft, is designed to be safe, sustainable, quiet and, with its expected payload of over 1,000 pounds, can carry four passengers plus a pilot. Midnight is optimized for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20-miles, with a charging time of approximately 10 minutes in-between.

IndiGo, through its parent company InterGlobe Enterprises, has placed an order for 200 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Archer Aviation. These aircraft are part of their plan to introduce an all-electric air taxi service in India by 2026, aiming to offer a quick and efficient travel option between cities.

Archer's first demonstrator aircraft, called Maker, is a two-passenger fully electric aircraft with 12 electric propellers. It's designed for both forward and VTOL flight and can travel at up to 150 mph over 60 miles (97 km). Maker has received its airworthiness certificate from the FAA and completed its first flight in December 2021.

Archer's aerial ridesharing service, also referred to as Urban Air Mobility (UAM), is planned to begin operations in 2025 in Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. The company is working with various stakeholders to build the necessary infrastructure and service routes to support this new mode of transportation.

Besides IndiGo, several other airlines across the globe are exploring similar initiatives involving electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Lufthansa Group has partnered with Lilium, an eVTOL aircraft manufacturer, to build a greener aviation network across Europe.

flynas, a leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eve Air Mobility to explore the future of eVTOL aircraft operations in Saudi Arabia. The two are considering starting eVTOL operations in Riyadh and Jeddah by 2026.

United Airlines, which is Archer Aviation's first major corporate partner, along with its regional partner Mesa Airlines, has pre-ordered 200 of Archer Aviation's Maker electric air taxis. United paid Archer $10M of pre-delivery payments for 100 aircraft of the total 200.

IndiGo Takes to the Cloud With Druva

Druva Inc., the Leader in Cloud Data Protection and Management, today announced that it has helped IndiGo slash IT support calls by 90 percent and secure thousands of devices through a migration to cloud data protection. As India’s largest passenger airline, Druva’s SaaS-based data management technology offered the company a single solution for protecting its sensitive aviation data and a robust disaster recovery approach to ensure minimal impact to business operations. With features such as immediate access to all backups, powerful data governance capabilities and fast search to restore data, IndiGo’s IT team is now able to focus on enhancing end-user satisfaction.

Airlines around the world are focused on improving operational reliability and enhancing passenger experience as they resume services in a post COVID-19 world. This has led to an increasing usage of cloud services, which offer increased reliability and more effective cost management. Data protection is an ideal workload to host in the cloud given its demands, ultimately strengthening business resiliency, enhancing disaster recovery and ensuring critical data is always accessible and available. Managing over 150TB of data across thousands of endpoints, IndiGo’s IT team recognised the criticality of data protection and the need to effectively overcome potential data loss and ransomware challenges.

“The global ubiquity of the public cloud brings a higher level of efficiency for backup and recovery,” said Tushar Cairae, Associate Director and Head End User Computing, IndiGo Airlines. “We’ve been using Druva in the cloud for nearly two years and it’s working perfectly. Backups are completed on time without any failure. This has gone a long way in helping us protect our brand and allowing us to maintain hard-won customer trust." 

After deploying Druva across the organization, IndiGo employees are now able to trigger data backup and recoveries without IT intervention, eliminating the need for onsite restorations. This process has helped dramatically reduce IT requests, further secure data from breaches and misuse, and has empowered IndiGo’s IT team to confidently turn its focus to managing the infrastructure and connectivity across airport networks. The team has also been able to use the additional time to optimize several mission critical business applications, ensure hassle-free computing and deliver competitive advantages through innovation, productivity, and efficiency. 

“To keep ground and air operations running seamlessly, airlines need 24x7 access to the humongous data it generates and stores in complex environments,” said Bakshish Dutta, Country Manager – India & SAARC, Druva. “With Druva, the IT team at IndiGo is getting to witness the transformative nature of SaaS cloud data protection and how it helps businesses to truly derive value from data while keeping it safe and accessible anytime, anywhere.”

 

More Information 

• Read more about IndiGo’s deployment and success with Druva

About Druva

Druva delivers Data Protection and Management for the cloud era. Druva Cloud Platform is built on AWS and offered as-a-Service; customers drive down costs by up to 50 percent by freeing themselves from the burden of unnecessary hardware, capacity planning, and software management. Druva is trusted worldwide by over 4,000 companies at the forefront of embracing the cloud. Druva is a privately held company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and is funded by Sequoia Capital, Viking Global Investors, Tenaya Capital, Riverwood Capital and Nexus Partners. Visit Druva and follow us @druvainc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201215005993/en/