Page 8 - ATC Special Bulletin Series - Meteorology 2022-01

8
Summer 2022 has seen European air traffic recover to 88% of 2019 levels, a big step in the industry’s road to recovery. But we have also seen unprecedented heatwaves across the region, bringing wildfires, health risks and drought. This is a phenomenon scientists predict will increasingly occur as climate change is making heatwaves both more likely and more intense.
Extreme high temperatures can damage aviation infrastructure such as runways, impact operation of equipment and energy supplies, increase cooling requirements, endanger passenger and employee health, and reduce aircraft take-off performance. These are all challenging issues for airports, airlines, air navigation service providers and ground handlers to address. But, unfortunately, they are not the only risks that climate change creates for the aviation sector. Our EUROCONTROL study, Climate Change Risks for European Aviation 2021, found that climate change will also bring stronger storms, higher sea levels and changes to wind patterns, which will all impact the smooth operation of the European aviation network.
Major storms have a significant operational impact and are expensive. In 2019 alone they are estimated to have cost the sector around €2.2 billion due to en-route delays, lost passenger time and additional fuel burn. The average en-route delay for a flight impacted by a major storm was around 18 minutes, with airlines flying an extra 1 million km, burning 6,000+ tonnes of
CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS
CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS
© iStock
FOR EUROPEAN AVIATION
FOR EUROPEAN AVIATION
by Marylin Bastin, EUROCONTROL’s Head of Sustainability
| SPECIAL BULLETIN SERIES | 2022 |
|