Weather reports, forecasts and charts issued by Meteorological Services are critical to the aviation industry.
That’s what members of the Pacific Meteorological Council heard from a user of meteorological products at its sixth Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6) meeting in Nadi this week.
Fiji Airways Assistant Manager Flight Planning, Mr Monesh Kumar shared how they use the aviation meteorological products provided by the Fiji Meteorological Services in their flight operations planning.
“Weather reports, forecast and charts used for flights have a direct impact on safety, fuel and revenue,” said Mr Kumar.
Products used include terminal forecasts issued for airports (TAF), Meteorological Aerodrome Report (METAR), Significant Meteorological Information for Significant Meteorological hazards (SIGMET), satellite images, wind charts, thunderstorm/lightning warning, volcanic ash advisory and cyclone track maps.
“Ensuring the flight planners and pilots and any other relevant aviation personnel have access to TAF/METAR which are as accurate as possible. This ensures decision making without compromising operational safety and reduce operating cost where possible,” he said.
The Fiji Meteorological Service provides aviation weather services to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, Niue, Cooks, Kiribati and Christmas Island.
The Fiji Airways presentation was part of the update from the Pacific Island Aviation Weather Services Panel to the PMC-6.
The PMC-6 precedes the first Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting (DPDEM-1) and the third Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-3) from 14 – 18 August 2023, hosted by the Government of Fiji through the Fiji Meteorological Service.
The meetings attended by Government Ministers, members of the PMC, officials from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) member countries and territories, development partners, Council of the Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP), United Nations’ agencies, collaborating organisations and institutions are guided by the theme: “Sustaining Weather, Climate, Water and Ocean Services for a Resilient Blue Pacific.”
* This story was developed by Ms Merana Kitione of the Pacific Community (SPC) who is part of the Pacific Communications Team providing media support to the Sixth Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting.
The Sixth Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6), the First Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting and the Third Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-3) are held in Nadi, Fiji respectively from 14 – 18 August 2023. They follow a range of pre-PMC meetings held in Nadi Fiji from 7 – 12 August 2023.
The PMC-6, the First Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting and PMMM-3 is supported by a strong partnership between the following: The Government of Fiji, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the European Union’s Intra-African Caribbean Pacific Climate Services and Related Applications (Intra-ACP) Project, United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Pacific Project, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Pacific Community (SPC), Varysian, GCF Funded VanKIRAP project, the People’s Republic of China's contribution to SPREP and OTT HydroMet.
For more information on the PMC-6 please visit the Pacific Met Desk website https://www.pacificmet.net/pmc-6-2023 or email [email protected] and insert PMC-6 Query in the subject line.
