One of the most frustrating aspects of air travel is a delay caused by inclement weather, in particular fog. The frustration of passengers is shared globally by airports, airlines and ground handlers. After all, it is our job to keep people moving and when things prevent this then it has an impact on our operations.
Why fog prevents an aircraft from landing
Being a coastal airport, Jersey is, on occasion, susceptible to foggy conditions, which can occur with little warning, even with the excellent services provided by the local Met Office. When this happens, aircraft are unable to see the runway and must rely upon instruments on the ground and in the cockpit to land the aircraft safely.
Why some aircraft choose to ‘go around’ instead of landing
This is related to the density of the fog. Even when it is foggy, the aircraft’s captain, with the assistance of available on-board instruments, is able to accurately position onto final approach, although he must be able to see the approach lights before committing to land. If the captain does not see the approach lights by a certain height, then the aircraft must perform a ‘go around’, which means it climbs away. In Jersey, for a Category 1 Instrument Landing System (ILS), the height is in the region of 200 feet.
What else needs to be taken into consideration when attempting to land
As well as the decision height, there are minimum horizontal visibility limits that must be present before the aircraft is allowed to commence its approach. This minimum visibility is dependent on how many approach lights are installed on the airfield and their effectiveness. Jersey Airport has good approach lights on runway 26 (landing over the Island in an east to west direction). For runway 08 (landing over the sea from west to east), the airport is restricted by the location of the runway and only has a limited number of lights at this end, before reaching the edge of the cliff.
Jersey Airport has a Category 1 ILS
In aviation there are different categories of instrument landing systems. Each category determines a decision height (the height at which the captain has to decide whether to land or go around) and a minimum horizontal visibility. This varies depending on the runway lights and approach lights. For example, on runway 26 at Jersey Airport the minimum horizontal visibility is 550 metres; which is the lowest you can have with a category 1 ILS. For runway 08, due to the limited approach lights, the minimum horizontal visibility is 1,000 metres.
There are three categories of ILS equipment, which support similarly named categories of approach/landing operation. Jersey Airport has Category 1 ILS for both runways, although the landing minima is different, due to the difference in approach lights available. This is due to the limitations caused by the cliff at the St Ouen end of the airport.
Approach Category |
Decision Height |
Runway Visual Range (RVR) |
| Cat 1 – Runway 26
Lower than standard Cat 1 (requires addition equipment on board the aircraft and additional pilot training) |
Minimum 200 ft
Minimum 200 ft |
550m
450m |
| Cat 1 – Runway 08
Lower than standard Cat 1 (requires addition equipment on board the aircraft and additional pilot training) |
Minimum 200 ft
Minimum 200 ft |
1200m/1000m – depending on approvals
600m |
| Cat2 – Not available at Jersey Airport | Minimum 100 ft | 350m |
| Cat3 – Not available at Jersey Airport | No Minimum | 180m |
Why Jersey Airport doesn’t have an ILS with even lower limits
Unfortunately, this is down to geographical features and the obstacles around the airfield. The next category of ILS is a 2, which would allow aircraft to land in much denser foggy conditions. However, for Jersey Airport to achieve this there are some crucial limitations that would have to be addressed first.
For example, when using a category 2 ILS, the aircraft must be fitted with a radio altimeter. This is a piece of safety equipment that tells the aircraft crew very accurately how high the aircraft is above the ground. The altimeter must be within certain parameters in the final stages of approach to land and the larger changes in this reading due to St Peter’s Valley and the cliff above St Ouen’s Bay render it unusable for a category 2 ILS.
Aircraft crew trust the safety of the aircraft and the people on-board to the equipment and protection of the surrounding areas. This is known as the ‘obstacle free zone’ and allows for margins of error, equipment failure and unexpected situations. This essentially means that the closer an aircraft is to the runway, the more protection must be taken regarding objects that are protruding in the sky. St Peter’s Church is an example of such an immovable object.
Moving to a category 2 ILS would require a substantial amount of financial investment and local disruption in changing the surrounding environment and removing obstacles to comply with the increased safety requirements that come with a different type of ILS category. Additional and significant investment in improved runway and approach lights would also be required. Therefore, at present there are no plans to change the category.
New technologies
With new technologies, there are improvements and enhancements that can be made to complement category 1 ILS approaches. This technology is called ‘Lower than standard Category 1’ and utilises additional equipment on-board the aircraft, such as Head Up Displays and Enhanced Vision Systems. This is available today for aircraft such as the Embraer 195 type, which have it installed and aircrew who are correctly trained. The use of this procedure will undoubtedly increase as more airlines become equipped to allow them to fly these approaches.
Why it’s easier for aircraft to depart in foggy weather than it is to land
Arriving aircraft are reliant on ILS, while aircraft departing from Jersey are not. However, it must be remembered that although aircraft may be able to depart Jersey in bad weather, it must equally be safe for it to land at its destination airport, as the same restrictions may apply.
The possibility of relocating Jersey Airport
Mention has been made of relocating the airport to the east of the Island, but Jersey is susceptible to inclement weather regardless of the location of the airport. Add to that the enormous costs involved in relocating an airport of this size, coupled with the major disruption to island life and nearby residents, etc, it is safe to say that, in these current times, this is not an option.
It’s important that passengers check-in on time and remain within the terminal building, even if there is inclement weather
All arrival times of aircraft delayed by fog are approximate and in particular, aircraft ‘holding’ can land at very short notice and require a quick turn-around to depart. Therefore, in order to accommodate this dynamic operation, airlines and their ground handling agents require departing passengers to remain in the terminal so that they may be called at short notice to depart.
Departing passengers must return purchased Duty Free goods when a flight has been cancelled
Duty free goods are controlled by customs regulations, which mean that, if a passenger does not eventually depart from the country where duty free goods have been purchased, they are not entitled to keep them. Furthermore, in some cases of cancellations, passengers may choose to depart on a different day and as such will have to clear security again, where bringing large quantities of liquids are not permitted.
What happens when a flight is cancelled
As every passenger’s needs are different, they will not automatically be booked onto another flight, when a flight is cancelled.
For example, some may be travelling for a specific event, which, as they may be forced to miss, would prefer to cancel their entire journey. In addition, passengers travelling for leisure purposes may decide to rebook on a different airline at their own expense or on an alternative day. Furthermore, there are often occasions when the next available flight does not have sufficient seats to accommodate all passengers affected by a cancelled flight. Passengers with onward connections with the same airline will usually be given priority rebooking.
Compensating passengers in times of delays and cancelled flights
Although all EU airlines are bound by a compensation scheme, airlines implement the policy in different ways. Therefore, the general advice for passengers who may have concerns is to check the individual airline policy before booking.
After a set period of time (which can vary from airline to airline) delayed passengers will be provided with free refreshment vouchers and, if delayed even longer than at first expected, could also receive food voucher tokens to be used in airport catering outlets.
Airlines will not provide financial compensation for inclement weather as they are not responsible for weather conditions.
Complimentary accommodation
If a flight has been delayed overnight or rescheduled to the following day, a passenger may be entitled to complimentary accommodation.
Some airlines will provide complimentary accommodation and return transfers to and from the airport.
Refunds for cancelled flights as a result of inclement weather
A refund is given on all sectors of the journey that have not been used. If a passenger still wishes to travel, the airline has responsibility for finding an alternative flight.
What to do with the return sector of a cancelled outbound flight
If a passenger chooses to cancel the outbound flight, they must inform the airline of their intention to use the return sector only. If the outbound sector is unused and the airline has not been advised the reason for doing so, the return sector is likely to be cancelled automatically.