India’s First Jet Landing Using GAGAN: IndiGo A320 at Udaipur
Why in the news
India carried out its first jet aircraft landing based on the GAGAN satellite navigation system in late June 2026, when an IndiGo Airbus A320 touched down at Udaipur. Reports date it 28 or 29 June.
Key facts
- Aircraft and airport: IndiGo Airbus A320 at Maharana Pratap Airport, Udaipur.
- Method: an LPV (Localiser Performance with Vertical Guidance) approach, which gives precise horizontal and vertical guidance down to about 200 feet above the ground.
- Oversight: supervised by the DGCA; described as the first commercial jet in India to land using GAGAN rather than ground-based radio aids.
- Smaller turboprop aircraft had been used in earlier trials.
About GAGAN
GAGAN stands for GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation. It is a satellite-based augmentation system built by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India. It corrects GPS errors caused by the ionosphere. ISRO’s GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 satellites broadcast the corrections, and AAI runs 15 reference stations across India. It is not an independent satellite constellation.
Exam angle
- Expand GAGAN correctly: GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation.
- Agencies: ISRO plus AAI; regulator: DGCA.
- Approach type: LPV; aircraft: IndiGo A320; airport: Udaipur.