(with photos)
**********************************************************
The Hong Kong Observatory today (September 20) announced that the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation would jointly organise an international seminar on quality management in the provision of meteorological services for aviation.
Managers of aviation weather services from about 40 countries in the Asia Pacific region are expected to participate in the seminar which will be held in Hong Kong from November 22 to 25 this year.
The hosting of this seminar in Hong Kong demonstrates the prominence of the observatory's aviation weather service in the international meteorological and aviation community. During the seminar, the observatory will share its experience in running its aviation weather services, particularly in raising the quality of its services.
As the result of years of dedication to service improvement, the observatory is now at the forefront of the world in aviation weather services. The head of the Observatory Airport Meteorological Office Senior Scientific Officer Ms Sharon Lau is a member of the Management Group of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of the WMO.
Ms Lau has just returned from France, where she attended an international symposium on adding value to aviation weather services. At the seminar, Ms Lau presented the observatory's recent progress in windshear alerting services at the Hong Kong International Airport. Members of the aviation community at the seminar were impressed and regarded the observatory's work as a significant achievement in windshear alerting.
The observatory was among the first organisations in the world to be awarded the ISO 9001 quality management certificate in the provision of aviation weather services in 2002. To ensure the standard of its aviation weather services, the observatory conducts regular internal audits and also has its operations audited by ISO 9001 certification bodies. Following a three-year re-certification cycle, its aviation weather service will be examined by a certification body tomorrow.
The observatory has already organised two international training workshops on aviation weather services for the WMO. In November, 2004, and July this year, 19 meteorologists from around the world attended the training workshops in Hong Kong. They were very impressed by the achievements of the observatory in the provision of aviation weather services. Mr Sospeter Muiruri, a participant from Kenya, said he had benefited considerably from the observatory's experience in the provision of aviation weather services. "I am extremely impressed with the application of advanced technology by the observatory, in particular the development of the windshear alerting system", he said.
The high standard of the observatory's service, particularly in windshear alerting in the Hong Kong International Airport, has been widely recognised in the international aviation community for years. The observatory contributed invited articles to the authoritative International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Journal and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Bulletin in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Experts from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, and aviation weather service providers in Japan, Korea and Thailand visited the observatory to look at the facilities and operations of its aviation weather services.
Pilots, who are the primary users of the aviation weather services, hold the observatory's service in high regard, in particular its windshear alerting. Captain Brian Greeves of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) said he had worked with the observatory for more than 10 years and have a great deal of respect for staff, both as meteorologists and as people intent on providing the best service for the airport users. IFALPA, which represents more than 100,000 pilots worldwide, is proud of its close association with the observatory and the development of the Windshear and Turbulence Warning System. Captain Greeves is currently representing IFALPA in the Low-Level Windshear and Turbulence Study Group of ICAO. He also contributed to the development of the observatory's Windshear and Turbulence Warning System at the airport. With his co-operation, the observatory and IFALPA jointly produced the world's first introductory book on windshear and turbulence specifically for pilots in 2002. The co-operation demonstrated the pilots' recognition of the observatory's windshear alerting service.
The observatory's online Aviation Meteorological Information Service (AMIDS) is also much appreciated by airlines users.
Embracing science and professionalism, the observatory has been relentless in pursuing the refinement of its service. "Observatory staff are pleased to see the observatory's service being appreciated and complimented by the aviation user community. We are proud to be able to contribute to Hong Kong's quest for a leading position in the world's aviation weather services," Ms Sharon Lau said.
Ends/Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Issued at HKT 15:30
NNNN
