The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Asia/Pacific Meteorology/Air Traffic Management (MET/ATM) Seminar 2015 and the Fourth Meeting of the Asia/Pacific Meteorological Requirements Task Force (MET/R TF/4) were held from 29th June to 1st July and from 2nd to 3rd July, respectively, at the Mita Kaigisho conference hall in Tokyo, Japan. The Seminar was attended by 66 representatives from 13 States/Special Administrative Regions (Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and Japan) and 3 international organizations (ICAO, IATA* and IFALPA*).
* IATA: International Air Transport Association
* IFALPA: International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations
At the beginning of the Seminar, Akihisa Suzuki, the Director-General of the Administration Department at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), provided opening remarks, and Toshihiro Kurauchi, the Director of the Aeronautical Meteorology Division at JMA gave a keynote address focusing on the past 10 years of MET-ATM collaboration in Japan.
(Middle) JCAB's Director of the Traffic Control Division Takeshi Imagome gives his keynote address.
(Middle) Toshihiro Kurauchi gives his keynote address.
(Right) JMA's Director-General Noritake Nishide delivers a welcome address at the reception.
Experts from MET and ATM shared information on MET-ATM collaboration and future plans in their States, and exchanged views on the implementation and enhancement of MET services supporting ATM in the Asia/Pacific Region. JMA representatives gave presentations on the Agency's year of experience providing MET services in support of ATM, including advanced services for the Terminal Area around the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
For further details, see the ICAO webpage at http://www.icao.int/APAC/Meetings/Pages/2015-METATM-Seminar--.aspx.
As part of the Seminar, JMA ran a technical tour to Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport, where JMA's Tokyo Metropolitan Area Team (TMAT) and Tokyo Aviation Weather Service Center provide a variety of MET services. The attendees learned about observation and forecasting services at the airport and found out how TMAT collaborates with the Traffic Management Unit (TMU) of the ATM Center run by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB).
At the TF Meeting, outcomes of the previous meeting and the MET/ATM Seminar 2015 were reviewed. There were also lively discussions on plans to improve the safety and efficiency of aircraft operation in the Region through MET information and services tailored to meet current and future ATM requirements.
For further details, see the ICAO webpage at http://www.icao.int/APAC/Meetings/Pages/2015-MET-R-TF4.aspx.
After the Seminar, ICAO Regional Officers Peter Dunda (RO/MET) and Shane Sumner (RO/ATM) visited JMA's Headquarters to give presentations on ICAO activities and future directions of MET/ATM to JMA staff, and also took a tour of JMA's operational centers.
