New editions of WMO guides in aeronautical meteorology
New editions of WMO guides in aeronautical meteorology have been published in the first months of 2024, as well as the 60th edition of the IATA Annual Safety Report which saw WMO's aviation expertise contribution.
A new (2023) edition of the Guide to Services for Aviation (WMO-No. 732) was published in March 2024. The guide provides an overview of aeronautical meteorological services. It covers topics that include the governance of service provision, interactions between service providers and aviation users and other stakeholders, the framework and structure behind the service provision, and the production and delivery of observations, forecasts and other information to aviation users.
Numerous other publications of relevance to aeronautical meteorology are available via the WMO Services for Aviation website, including a new edition of the Guide to Aeronautical Meteorological Services Cost Recovery: Principles and Guidance (WMO-No. 904) published in December 2023. The guide explains, in an informal and practical manner, the way in which national meteorological services and other providers may recover costs for providing aeronautical meteorological services to aviation.
WMO expertise contributes to annual safety report in aviation
WMO expertise contributed to the 60th edition of the IATA Annual Safety Report, published in February 2024. The report presents an in-depth review and analysis of aviation accidents globally and regionally, including those where adverse weather/meteorological conditions were a causal factor.
The report showed that weather/meteorological conditions – notably thunderstorms, low-level wind shear and hail – as well as unnecessary weather penetration and contaminated runway conditions featured in 2023 accidents classified by IATA, including those that resulted in in-flight damage, runway excursions and overruns, hard-landings and tail-strikes. While weather-related accidents did not result in a loss of life in 2023, they all resulted in economic losses for the aviation industry through damage to the aircraft.