Bad weather at Noi Bai Airport, need to proactively ensure flight safety

A representative of Noi Bai International Airport (NIA) said that from 11am to 3pm on August 24, the weather is forecast to have thunderstorms at times. Noi Bai International Airport continues to closely coordinate with the Northern Air Traffic Management Company and the Noi Bai Aviation Meteorological Center in operating and guiding aircraft, warning of extreme weather to deploy response plans, ensuring absolute flight safety.

According to Noi Bai International Airport, from 9-10pm on August 23, the weather at Noi Bai Airport was unfavorable, with thunderstorms and lightning, winds equivalent to level 4 gusting to level 6, and horizontal visibility reduced to 3-4km in the rain.

Faced with this reality, Noi Bai International Airport has sent warning bulletins to relevant units to be ready to respond.

To ensure flight safety, 8 flights arriving at Noi Bai had to change landing direction, 13 flights taking off from Noi Bai had to be delayed.

By 10 p.m. the same day, the weather was more favorable, and flights took off and landed safely.

Previously, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam sent a document to the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV) and airlines to limit the situation of aircraft having to circle and wait at the airport area when there is bad weather.

Currently, flight operations have grown again after the Covid-19 pandemic. However, bad and unusual weather phenomena are increasing in frequency and intensity, causing great impacts on safety and flight operations and management.

"The situation of flights waiting, diverting, and canceling flights when there is bad weather, and planes being unable to land at airports such as Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai for long periods of time affects flight operations," the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said.

The Civil Aviation Authority has issued a Directive on strengthening the work of ensuring flight safety and acknowledged and highly appreciated VATM's solution to limit the situation of waiting flights, diverting to alternate airports or canceling flights.

However, to ensure stability, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam requested VATM to take the lead and coordinate with airlines and airports to develop a flight coordination procedure in bad weather conditions.

The Authority also requested airlines to coordinate and exchange information with air traffic control units in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang; to increase consideration and weighing of decisions for aircraft to depart to the destination airport if there are unfavorable weather conditions to proactively limit the need to wait for flights and go to alternate airports.

In addition, the Department also requested airports to coordinate with VATM to develop and complete flight operations procedures in bad weather conditions to limit waiting flights, going to alternate airports or canceling flights.