HKO signs co-operation agreement with CAAC and CMA on Asian Aviation Weather Centre (with photo)
******************************************************************************************
The Director of the HKO, Mr Shun Chi-ming, said at the signing ceremony that with sustained growth of air traffic in Asia, there is an increasing demand from aviation users for more and better weather services so as to enhance flight safety as well as efficiency. Meanwhile, the international trend calls for regionalised, globalised, digitised and automated aviation weather services, which provide opportunities for enhancing the provision of services.
The tripartite co-operation agreement initiates the establishment of the AAWC. The parties will strive for the AAWC commencing operation in mid-2018 to provide the Asian region with high-quality enroute hazardous weather information to meet the needs of all related aviation users.
The Deputy Administrator of CAAC, Mr Wang Zhiqing, said the establishment of the AAWC by the Mainland and Hong Kong will enhance their capability of aviation weather service, and boost the further development of civil aviation.
The Deputy Administrator of CMA, Ms Jiao Meiyan, said the setting up of the AAWC is a milestone in international aviation weather service. The co-operation demonstrates the advantages of all parties in terms of operation, expertise and management.
Currently, enroute hazardous weather information is provided by the meteorological watch offices operated by various countries. At the Meteorology Divisional meeting of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2014, the meeting decided that the responsibility for provision of enroute hazardous weather information would gradually be taken up by regional centres in the next 10 years or so to provide better, more suitable and more consistent services to aviation users. The three parties expect that the capability and service level of aviation meteorology for the Mainland and the Asian region will be fully upgraded through the co-operation, which will in turn lay the foundation for developing the AAWC into a world area forecasting centre.
Based on the agreement, CAAC is responsible for the establishment and operation of the main AAWC in Beijing. The HKO will set up a backup AAWC in Hong Kong and provide technical and operational support. The CMA will set up a technological support centre to support the underlining operation platforms such as weather information exchange and numerical weather prediction etc.
Ends/Friday, October 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:25
Issued at HKT 21:25
NNNN
Photo
