Beginning from the end of June 2022, the Observatory dispatches Aeronautical Meteorological Advisers to the Integrated Airport Centre (IAC) of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to provide services to the aviation community. Customers include the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Civil Aviation Department, airlines, ground handling agents, cargo terminal operators and ramp operators, etc.

The services of Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser include, among others, delivering regular daily briefings on local weather and inclement weather with high impact in nearby regions, distribution of concise comprehensive weather charts, and provision of probabilistic forecasts of weather elements with high impact on HKIA’s operations.

By delivering briefings through video conferencing, customers can better appreciate the latest weather conditions of HKIA and the Hong Kong Flight Information Region, which would facilitate more effective airport operation arrangements. Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser will inform the customers upon the assessment that any airport in the adjacent regions will be affected by inclement weather. For example, if a tropical cyclone approaching Japan will affect airports with frequent flights to and from Hong Kong, the flights departing from Hong Kong may need to be suspended or rescheduled. Relevant stakeholders can inform passengers in advance through different channels and request them not to proceed to the airport at the moment to avoid creating chaos due to the crowding of passengers waiting at the airport. Therefore, appreciating the weather situation at nearby airports by the customers is also highly related to the operation of HKIA. Should the customers have any enquiries at Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser’s briefing, they can raise their questions immediately for further discussion. This highly enhances the communication between the Observatory and the aviation customers. The content of the briefing will be summarized in a concise weather chart and uploaded to a dedicated webpage for easy reference by the customers.

Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser will also provide customers with probabilistic forecast of weather elements that have a high impact on airport operations, including runway high winds, crosswind and extreme high temperature, etc.. This kind of forecasts can facilitate decision-making of the aviation customers in their daily operations, or their activation of contingency measures of different levels.

Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser on duty at the IAC can respond face-to-face to various enquiries from customers. During rapidly changing inclement weather situations such as tropical cyclones or significant convection affecting the airport operations, Aeronautical Meteorological Adviser can provide appropriate information and opinions more effectively. During the case of some uncertain weather conditions, face-to-face consultation can help explain various factors that may affect the airport operations, and facilitate customers to assess weather changes and make appropriate decisions. This kind of real time and up-to-date consultation service can facilitate flight planning and operational decision-making of the customers, thereby significantly improving the safety and efficiency of the aviation services.