HK Liaison Group on Aviation Weather Services celebrates 10 years of teamwork

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), airline and pilot representatives celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Liaison Group on Aviation Weather Services today (November 28).

Speaking at the celebration dinner, the HKO Director, Mr Lam Chiu-ying, said "For the past 10 years, the aviation meteorological service in Hong Kong has made great strides. The liaison group has been instrumental in this process. For example, in response to a comment by an airline that it took too long to download the flight document, the data transmission speed was subsequently upgraded from the original 28.8K to 56K and then broadband service in year 2000."

Over the past year, HKO was awarded an ISO certification in recognition of its aviation weather services. The HKO also installed a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system at the airport, the first of its kind for airport weather alerting in the world. Colleagues of the HKO also took up active roles within International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Mr Raymond Au of United Airlines said the liaison group was very useful. It provides a vehicle for direct exchange of views between the users and HKO, enabling our needs to be better understood. We are pleased to see the continuous improvement in the aviation weather service provided by HKO over the past 10 years."

Mr Lam said Hong Kong was the first place to introduce a data link VOLMET (D-VOLMET) service in the Asia/Pacific region, allowing pilots to access the latest observations, forecasts and warnings in flight. "In the coming years, the HKO will further improve the forecast accuracy and take advantage of the improved air-ground link to provide more user-friendly products to the aviation community."

Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Mr. C.Y. Lam, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Liaison Group on Aviation Weather Service with airline and pilot representatives.