Climate change increases the likelihood of convective weather and extreme heat, which are conditions affecting aviation and important causes of flight delays. Recent data shows that the number of weather-related flight cancellations and delays have increased over the past two decades in the US and Europe. According to the Financial Times, “the number of delays attributed to bad weather in European airspace rose from 3.5m in 2003 to a peak of 6.5m in 2019”.

Airlines and airports need to plan for a future where extreme weather conditions will influence their flight schedules more frequently, as climate change has been proved to be an increasing reality.

Today on World Meteorological Day, we want to highlight the importance of early weather predictions for Air Traffic Management. The FMP-Met project aims to provide weather information for flow management position, up to 8h in advance, which will reduce flight delays: