JEDDAH: With summer vacation and the Umrah season drawing close, the number of flights to and from the Kingdom have dramatically increased. However, flights often risk being delayed or canceled for many reasons, particularly due to changes in the climate as was seen in Europe last April. It is because of this that the Kingdom’s aviation authorities have been making special preparations for this summer.

The preparations are being made to ensure that flights run on time during the peak holiday season. With the Kingdom being a popular pilgrim destination and situated along strategic flight paths, Saudi Arabia sees a substantial increase in air traffic during the summer.

“Controlling aviation movement and ensuring that safety procedures are adhered to are our main concern in the coming months. We aim to ensure passenger safety through the implementation of several safety procedures,” said Khaled Al-Khaibari, spokesman for General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). He added that passengers often become angry due to flight delays and cancellations during the summer, but this is because they fail to understand that flight activity increases during the summer and that there can be issues with the climate. “To avoid this, GACA has begun implementing several new procedures such as establishing new flight paths,” he said.

“We are cooperating with aviation companies to arrange a limited number of scheduled flights. We will schedule the number of daily flights in each airport. We define the number of flights according to an airport’s lounges, paths and runaways … Our domestic and international airports are equipped with the latest equipment that allows planes to land from very high altitudes and when the vision is poor,” he added.

In order to deal with any potential challenges caused by changes in the weather, GACA has signed an agreement with the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment that would see the two bodies collaborating with each other.

“The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment will provide GACA with news of all expected climate changes. This cooperation will help GACA properly operate in emergencies,” said Al-Khaibari.

According to a GACA report, the presidency will provide GACA with details of weather 24 hours around the clock.

“In addition, the presidency and GACA will provide all Saudi airports, aviation companies and travel agencies that use the Kingdom’s airspace with details of any change in weather,” said the report.

“Three forecast reports will be given to domestic and international airports in addition to airports in foreign countries. These forecast reports include one titled ‘Routine Forecast,’ which is issued every hour. Each airport will be given its own forecast report. The second report will be an important one called ‘Private Forecast.’ This report will focus on climate change every hour and will be issued when the observer notices a sudden change in climate.

A large number of reports will be issued and sent to international airports so that they can also manage flights to the Kingdom,” the report added.

In case of changes in climate, GACA will transfer all flights to airports that have not been affected, said the report. “The Civil Defense is also cooperating with GACA to help with any potential emergencies. The Civil Defense is providing airports with rescue teams,” said the GACA report.