UK weather service launches aircraft de-icing forecast

Airline Industry Information, Oct 26, 2004

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The UK Meteorological Office, which provides weather forecasting information worldwide, has launched a new de-icing service that can be tailored for the de-icing of aircraft on the ground.

The service combines the weather forecast with the characteristics of de-icing fluids which will then warn airlines when aircraft will need de-icing, helping to cut delays and costs related to having to de-ice aircraft. The service has been tested by airlines including BMI which said that before the service airlines just took an educated guess at the time it would take to de-ice aircraft in various conditions but the new service helped it make more accurate de-icing decisions.

The Met Office has launched the new service as it tries drive the airline industry into purchasing value-added forecasts that go beyond the basic forecasts that they currently work off. The new service is based on its Site-Specific Forecast Model (SSFM) which can be deployed at airports around the world, reports The Scotsman.

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