You didn’t imagine it – thunderstorms are more common in summer months – which is why Virgin Australia has released a video explaining how storms can affect flying operations, along with the candid admission that they can be “very dangerous weather events”.
As the summer storm season hits Australia, Virgin Australia’s meteorologist Manfred Greitschus said: “Thunderstorms are a very significant issue for airlines and can be very dangerous weather events. Depending on the severity of the storm, it has the potential to influence the way we plan flights to avoid flying through any dangerous storm cells.
“When thunderstorms are producing lightning within eight kilometres of an airport, we need to shut down operations on the ramp and this can cause delayed or cancelled flights,” Greitschus said.
As it handles one of the busiest holiday periods of the year, the airline is preparing for the storm season to ensure that all guests arrive at their destination safely.
General manager, network operations Andrew Lillyman said: “Major weather events like thunderstorms can have a big impact on airline’s flying schedules. When there is a severe thunderstorm at an airport, we will receive information about the reduced amount of flights we’ve been approved to operate in and out of the airport. The team then work hard on reallocating passengers on this reduced schedule to get guests to their destinations as quickly as we can.
“We understand that cancellations and delays are very frustrating but we want guests to know that their safety is most important to us. We’re hoping these videos will also provide the public with some information about what happens behind the scenes and why we make the decisions we do,” Lillyman said.
Virgin Australia will be releasing a series of educational videos about how certain weather events may impact flights. The video featured above is the first.
Edited by Peter Needham
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