Storm in a teacup

All safety standards are up to date and all facilities have undergone upgrades and regular maintenance to guarantee the safe operation of Macau’s airport, said Macau International Airport Co. Ltd (CAM) at a media briefing yesterday. The company denied that the incident during the weekend when some flights were diverted to nearby airports was caused by its navigation system’s shortcomings as reported by some local Chinese media allegedly quoting industry sources. CAM insists the incident was due to bad weather. A total of16 flights bound for Macau had to land in Hong Kong, Shenzhen or Taiwan’s Kaohsiung airport due to bad weather on Saturday night. The diverted flights also led to the cancellation of 22 departure flights. More than 1,000 passengers were affected. The Meteorological Bureau cited the strong south wind and 600-feet low height of clouds as reasons some of the flights could not land. The Civil Aviation Authority said flights diverted to other airports due to weather was not a special case. Upgrade “There are two runways at Macau airport. No.34 and No.16. They have different requirements for landing due to environmental and geographic reasons,” said Gary. Y. J. Geng, operations director of the Administration of Airports Ltd. “No. 16 runway requires pilots to see the runway from a higher altitude, which is around 700 feet, otherwise they cannot execute a landing. For No.34 runway, the requirement is 100 feet. Due to the weather conditions on Saturday night, such as the strength and direction of the wind as well as the height of the cloud, the aeroplanes could only choose No.16 runway. And some couldn’t land here under those circumstances due to safety concerns.” The airport authority also stressed that in 2009 the company launched a comprehensive upgrade of the communication, navigations and surveillances (CNS) system. Some 10 major sub-sections were upgraded, with the process complete in 2012. The investment for the project amounted to MOP170 million. Chinese inspection “The airport has been conducting flight checks for the CNS system in accordance with the international aviation standards under the leadership of Macau Aviation Authority,” said Sandro Kou, acting director of the Infrastructure Development Department of CAM. “Last year, we also invited the Chinese aviation authority to inspect our CNS equipment. The report shows that the system is stable and working fine and is able to provide accurate navigation for aircraft to guarantee the safety.” Chief Executive Chui Sai On commented before departing for his trip yesterday that he understands the airport has been following international standards but has requested a detailed report. He said Macau as a tourism city needs to review how to provide better services whilst maintaining the highest safety standards.