20.8.2010
More efficient briefing services at Finavia’s airports
Finavia Corporation is reorganising its briefing services, which will be centralised in the Briefing Services Unit located at Helsinki Airport. The reorganisation concerns Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Rovaniemi, Tampere-Pirkkala, Oulu, Pori, Vaasa and Turku airports, as well as the Finnish Area Control Centre in Tampere.
The purpose in centralising the activities is to standardise the briefing service offering in Finland and to guarantee customers a briefing service around the clock from a single office. The reorganisation is linked to the launch of the electronic flight plan system (eFPL) for customers and the deployment of the automatic meteorological system at the airports involved in the changes.
The briefing at Helsinki Airport serves its customers - airlines and pilots - 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Briefing provides customers with the necessary material for flight preparations, such as information about the meteorological conditions and route information, i.e., bulletins. In addition, the unit receives and checks flight plans and forwards them to the electronic networks.
Contact details of the briefing service:
Lentäjäntie 1 B, 5th floor
01530 VANTAA
tel: +358 20 708 4111
http://www.finavia.fi/palvelut-ilmailijoille
Briefing services at Rovaniemi Airport
After 18 July 2010, briefing services at Rovaniemi airport will be provided daily from 05.30 to 22.30 from the briefing located in the airport's administrative building.
A self-service briefing function is being established at Rovaniemi Airport, which will be located in the airport terminal. Once the self-service briefing is ready, the customer service centre located in the terminal will assist customers, if required, in flight planning matters.
Briefing services outside the opening times of the briefing service at Rovaniemi Airport will be managed centrally by the Briefing Services Unit at Helsinki Airport.
Meteorological service at Rovaniemi Airport
An automatic meteorological system has been deployed at Rovaniemi Airport as a result of the centralisation of briefing services. Weather observations and the meteorological forecasts made from them are based on the weather observations of the automatic meteorological system.
Briefing services at Turku Airport
After 11 July 2010, the briefing service at Turku Airport will be provided daily between 05.00 and 01.00 using the self-service briefing located next to the airport's customer service centre. Turku Airport's customer service centre supports the self-service briefing and will assist customers, if required, in flight planning matters.
Briefing services outside the opening times of the customer service centre at Turku Airport will be managed centrally by the Briefing Services Unit at Helsinki Airport.
Meteorological service at Turku Airport
An automatic meteorological system has been deployed at Turku Airport as a result of the centralisation of briefing services. Weather observations and the meteorological forecasts made from them are based on the weather observations of the automatic meteorological system.
Determining visibility using the weather observations of the automatic meteorological system at Turku Airport
In connection with the deployment of the automatic meteorological system, the notional calculation of visibility will change in line with Chapter 1 of ICAO Annex 3. Under ICAO Annex 3, visibility is calculated using two alternatives, with the larger one becoming the determinant alternative:
a) MOR (Meteorological Optical Range)
b) the visibility of a 1000cd lamp
Turku's automatic meteorological system, as is the case at other airports, measures MOR, which corresponds to the visibility of an unlit object. The measuring and calculations at Turku also include visibility of a 1000cd lamp. This visibility in the dark, at visibilities below 5,000m, is slightly greater than the visibility of an unlit object and the difference increases towards lower visibilities. The issue has practical significance mainly when flying in the dark in an aerodrome traffic circuit, when, in relation to the above, it is possible to fly in slightly lower visibilities of an unlit object.
For example, a visibility of approximately 4,000m 1000cd in the dark corresponds to the value MOR 3000m. However, in visibilities greater than approximately 5000m, MOR is greater than a visibility of 1000cd. For example, approximately 8.5km 1000cd visibility in the dark corresponds to the value 10km MOR.
A corresponding change in the notional calculation of visibility will be carried out when the automatic system operated by Vaisala is introduced at Finavia's other airports.
