Singapore will strengthen aviation meteorological capabilities and regional collaboration to better tackle the effects of weather on aviation, as changes in weather patterns result in more flight delays and diversions, disruptions to airport operations and turbulence and other aviation safety concerns around the world.
National Aviation Meteorological Programme
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore have jointly set up a new multidisciplinary Aviation Meteorological Programme. The programme brings together aviation and meteorology experts as well as aviation companies and unions to build research and development (R&D) and operations capabilities to better predict, mitigate and manage the effects of weather on air traffic control, airlines and airport operations.
The programme focuses on five priority areas, each addressing a critical weather phenomenon that affects aviation operations in Singapore and the region:
1. Lightning
Singapore, located near the Equator, is amongst the world’s most lightning-prone countries. The Changi Climate Station observes lightning on nearly one in two days each year. Lightning poses safety risks to airside workers, disrupts airport operations and delays flights and baggage handling. Lightning risk notifications are currently issued based on a six-kilometre safety radius around Changi Airport.
This poses operational challenges especially with the completion of Terminal 5, which will almost double Changi Airport’s footprint. CAAS and NEA will aim to minimise the impact of cloud-to-ground lightning by improving lightning forecast precision. These will enhance worker safety, reduce downtime and enable more targeted zone-based approach to managing lightning risk.
2. Turbulence
Severe turbulence incidents have risen globally, posing safety risks to passengers and crew. In September 2025, Singapore became the first State in the world to classify severe turbulence as a major in-flight risk. Both agencies will seek to strengthen in-flight turbulence prediction and provide airlines with more timely, reliable and actionable weather information.
3. Convective Weather
Weather-related flight delays and diversions have increased. Between January and November 2025, 55 flights were diverted from Changi due to bad weather, a sharp increase from the nine flight diversions in the same period a year ago. Convective weather means that thunderstorms causing wind shear can occur and dissipate abruptly, making them hard to predict. CAAS and NEA will work towards improving convective weather forecasting to support real-time decision-making and optimise airport operations.
4. Surface Winds
For safety reasons, air traffic controllers need to determine runway direction for aircraft to fly into the wind for take-off and landing. Rapidly shifting winds can result in multiple runway changes, reducing runway capacity and pose challenges to air traffic controllers and pilots. CAAS and NEA will improve the accuracy and timeliness of surface wind forecasts to better plan for runway changes and optimise runway use.
5. Contrails
There is growing global attention on condensation trails (contrails) and their effects on global warming. CAAS and NEA will work on strengthening scientific knowledge on contrails particularly in the Asia-Pacific region where the atmospheric conditions differ from that in Europe and North America and data is limited. This will help inform future mitigation strategies and contribute to global policy development.
Regional Collaboration
As weather patterns and the effects of weather on aviation operations cross geographical boundaries, regional collaboration is needed for effective mitigation strategies. CAAS and NEA have initiated and signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate with six other air navigation service providers (and meteorological service providers, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation and ICAI in R&D, capability development and data sharing. Together, the parties will address the effects of weather on aviation operations.
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