Weathernews Inc. (Head office: Mihama-ku, Chiba City; CEO: Tomohiro Ishibashi) has launched global operations of SkyAviators, an integrated aviation weather service designed to support safe operations in the aviation industry and help airlines create flight plans more efficiently. SkyAviators is an integrated aviation weather service that consolidates weather data and content needed for operations to empower confident decisions on whether to operate flights based on objective data.
With the recovery of demand for flights following the COVID-19 pandemic, operations managers and meteorological teams in charge of flight planning at airlines face the challenge of maintaining and bolstering operational systems amid gaps in experience between veterans and junior employees as well as a surge in data volume and workload. SkyAviators supports the aviation industry by providing a common aviation weather information platform where weather data and content for operations can be verified seamlessly, enabling workers to make decisions on whether to operate, regardless of experience level.
SkyAviators is equipped with a feature that allows users to compare and verify the forecast accuracy of weather models. This proprietary technology from Weathernews visualizes how accurate different weather models are during a given period for each airport, enabling you to make operational decisions based on objective data even in difficult situations where weather models give conflicting results. SkyAviators also automatically detects and aggregates weather risks from over 3,500 airports worldwide, presenting them as a summary that can be verified instantly. Airports at risk of exceeding thresholds for wind speed, visibility, and cloud ceiling can be identified right away, allowing not only for real-time airport monitoring but also rapid response to flights departing from and arriving at those airports, improving overall operational efficiency.
As the manifestation of all the aviation weather expertise that Weathernews has accumulated with clients over 40 years, SkyAviators helps creates a deeper understanding of weather information and supports rapid decision-making. Achieving standardized, efficient decision-making that transcends gaps in experience through SkyAviators will help support safe and sustainable operations across the aviation industry.

The Story Behind the Development of SkyAviators

Weathernews has provided aviation weather services for over 40 years, helping clients solve various challenges. The impact of workforce reductions due to lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic lingers in the aviation industry, and a growing gap in experience and weather literacy between experienced and junior operations managers and meteorologists at airlines has surfaced. The rapid recovery in passenger demand has also led to a surge in the level of expertise needed for operational decisions as well as in data volume and workload, creating the new challenge of maintaining stable flight operations while bolstering systems and skills in line with the pace of recovery. These circumstances have made building systems where everyone, from experienced to junior workers, can make operational decisions regardless of experience level a crucial issue across the aviation industry.
It is within this context that Weathernews has developed SkyAviators, an aviation weather information platform that enables airlines to share the same weather data and content and make evidence-based operational decisions.

SkyAviators: Supporting Safe Flights and Operational Streamlining in the Aviation Industry

SkyAviators is an integrated aviation weather service that leverages the Weathernews weather database to support decision-making in airline operations management. Conventional operations management requires the individual collection and monitoring of weather information and forecasts for multiple airports and flight routes from a wide range of sources, but with SkyAviators, users can seamlessly verify not only METARs (Meteorological Aerodrome Reports) and TAFs (Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts) for airports worldwide but also vast global aviation data from satellite images, radar, and live cameras, as well as data on lightning, typhoons, volcanic ash, turbulence, and weather information by altitude. Multiple weather models can also be compared on the same screen, making it possible to see data from multiple perspectives, which significantly streamlines data collection and analysis. This enables users to quickly and accurately understand potential weather risks and make efficient, highly accurate operational decisions.

Weather Model Evaluation for Making Decisions on Whether to Operate Based on Objective Data

SkyAviators focuses on enabling workers involved in operations to make decisions on whether to operate based on accurate data and evidence. To achieve this, it assesses the forecast accuracy of TAFs, ECMWFs (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), GFS (Global Forecast System), and the proprietary Weathernews weathermodel, visualizing how accurate TAFs and weather models were during a given period for each airport. This enables clear operational decision-making using the weather model assessment as a reference even in difficult circumstances where TAF and weather models give conflicting results, improving the quality of decisions.

Automatic Airport Weather Risk Detection for Higher Operational Efficiency

Airports at risk of exceeding thresholds for such factors as weather, wind speed, visibility, and cloud ceiling are automatically extracted in real time from over 3,500 airports worldwide. Airports with weather risks are summarized and presented on the screen, making it possible to instantly identify airports that require caution from among a vast number of locations monitored. This reduces the risk of overlooking locations monitored and contributes to more efficient operations monitoring on a global scale.

Going forward, Weathernews plans to incorporate real-time aircraft turbulence data essential for safe aircraft operations into SkyAviators to provide an even more sophisticated analysis and forecasting service that integrates weather data with actual operational conditions. Weathernews also plans to add an AI agent to support weather risk analysis for operational decisions. The AI agent will recommend optimal routes, accounting for safety from among vast weather models and real-time data, and will provide immediate answers based on objective evidence for specific questions such as, "What is the risk of inclement weather at this specific airport in the next two hours?" to support rapid decision-making.
By enhancing the features in SkyAviators and helping improve weather literacy across entire airlines, transcending position and role to include not only meteorological teams and operations managers but also pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, station control, ground staff, and airport staff, Weathernews will contribute to higher safety and operational quality in the aviation industry.

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