IndiGo Airbus A320 completes India’s first satellite-guided LPV landing using GAGAN

First satellite-guided commercial landing in India

On 27 June, an IndiGo Airbus A320 carried out India’s first commercial landing guided by satellite, signalling a major technological step for the country’s aviation sector. Overseen by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the flight used the Localiser Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) approach, supported by the national GAGAN (GPS-Aided GEO-Augmented Navigation) system, removing the need for the conventional ground-based Instrument Landing System (ILS).

IndiGo has been running LPV operations on its ATR turboprop fleet since 2022, but this A320 demonstration marked the first time the technology had been showcased on narrow-body jets in India.

According to Airbus, the LPV procedure provides accurate horizontal and vertical guidance during the final approach, comparable to what pilots receive from an ILS, while relying on satellite signals rather than physical equipment installed at the airport.

How GAGAN (GPS-Aided GEO-Augmented Navigation) supports LPV approaches

GAGAN, jointly developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) designed to improve the accuracy, integrity and availability of standard GPS signals.

While standard GPS typically offers accuracy of between 5 and 10 metres-insufficient for commercial landings-GAGAN compensates for atmospheric and satellite errors, enabling positioning precision of up to 1.5 metres.

GAGAN operates through a network of 15 reference stations distributed across India, which continuously track GPS signals. The resulting information is relayed to control centres that calculate the required corrections, which are then broadcast via geostationary satellites to compatible receivers on board aircraft.

Roll-out across airports and operational resilience

This capability allows crews to conduct high-precision approaches at regional airports without ILS infrastructure, lowering costs while enhancing safety.

AAI plans to enable more than 40 airports to support LPV operations by the end of 2026, indicating a structural shift in how India’s expanding air network conducts precision landings.

GAGAN is particularly important in India because of the country’s position beneath the equatorial ionisation anomaly, where atmospheric disturbances can undermine the reliability of traditional GPS.

The system also acts as a valuable redundancy when ILS is unavailable, helping to maintain continuity and improve the safety of national air operations.