Aviation and Weather - a New Initiative in Germany

Weather impact on aviation in Germany is generally thought to be less important than other influences, such as air traffic management constraints. Traffic increased in Germany up to 2001 by 5 % annually and a doubling of air traffic volume within the next 15 – 20 years is still expected. The major hubs in Germany are Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf with total numbers of take-off and landings in 2001 of 459372, 332015, and 191592 respectively. The fact that these airport operate near or even over their nominal capacity, however, made the air traffic more and more susceptible to adverse weather. The monthly delay statistic for December 2001 (DFS, 2002), for example, reveals that weather contributed with 56%, 77%, and 76% respectively to the ATFM delay observed at the three airports. A recent study by Hauf and Sasse (2002) documented for the first time quantitatively the impact of thunderstorms on the landing traffic at Frankfurt airport with approximately 1000 delay minutes per event.