Meteorological conditions significantly affect air traffic safety and can also affect a pre-planned flight plan. Difficult meteorological conditions are particularly hazardous during take-off and ...landing procedures. Still, they can also cause disruptions to air traffic by causing, for example, delays to air traffic or diversion of aircraft to other airports. From the airlines’ point of view, such situations are not beneficial if flights are diverted to other airports due to reduced visibility at the airport caused by fog and haze. For flight operations, a popular navigation system with a precision approach is the ILS, which has several categories enabling an approach even in adverse meteorological conditions. However, not every airport has a high-category ILS, and setting up such navigation equipment is lengthy and costly. The main objective of this article is to analyze the impact of meteorological conditions, particularly visibility, on the possibility of performing flight procedures with different ILS categories. The study was designed to quantify the limitations associated with meteorological conditions with specific ILS equipment at a given airport. The research questions for this study include the following: What were the meteorological conditions in terms of visibility? What impact did the visibility parameter have on the performance of landing operations at the airport under study? Can an indication of the probability of stopping landing operations be important in recommendations for scheduling airline flights to avoid delays? Three airports were selected for the analysis: Warsaw Chopin Airport, Warsaw Modlin Mazowiecki Airport, and Krakow John Paul II Airport. The analysis was based on approximately 52,000 METAR dispatches in 2019 and 2022. The research indicated during which periods landing procedures were most frequently halted and calculated such a change with a different category of ILS. For the Kraków Airport, the probability of stopping landing procedures in any month was calculated, along with recommendations for flight schedule planning for this airport. The research results can be used to better plan airline flight schedules, avoiding hours with a high probability of reduced visibility, which may result in rerouting flights to another airport. Long-term low clouds and reduced visibility affect the safety of operations but also cause delays.
Airport planning is a challenging task that requires knowledge of many standards and recommended practices, bylaws and procedures. Besides, it is possible that politicians would try to intervene in ...the planning process, which always exceeds the election period of one government. Therefore, the article provides in-depth theoretical analysis of the problem and summarizes the results of research that focused on comparing the approach to the airport planning issues in the Slovakia and Croatia. The primary goal was to develop a methodology for determining the airport planning horizon, to assess the significance of individual planning phases and to evaluate results. The research was carried out using a combination of several methods. The main challenge was to determine the length of the planning horizon. In 2 panels, 32 experts from Slovakia and Croatia were interviewed and 224 different responses were received and processed by the fuzzy Delphi method. The advantage of this approach relies on combination of well – developed theory and practical solutions in cooperation with experts from the industry. Despite the different legal frameworks and similar standards for airport planning in both countries, the results of the research proved that the values of the optimal planning horizons are comparable. As a result, the methodology can therefore be used in other countries with similar conditions. However, planning procedures and practices depend on the specifics of states or even regions. Eventually, the experience from the research provides relevant and robust material to support teaching. Besides, it is transferable to other fields of transport infrastructure planning. Additionally, the research results were provided to the state planning authorities.
The air transport market has been exposed to the biggest crisis in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years. Many airlines have tried to stay in the market, but the impact of ...various factors was so strong that some airlines were forced to stop of the operation. In this way, the pandemic verified the fundamental pillars of airline business models and at the same time pointed out weaknesses in the entire air transport system. Flexibility has become one of the most important features for sustaining any business. The article is focused on the complex processing of the issue of the virtual airline and proposes the concept of a virtual air carrier, considering the current starting points of the market, on which it will have sufficient potential to establish itself, at the level of EU. At the same time, it proposes possibilities for the development of air transport in the Slovak Republic through the introduction of a virtual air carrier as a tool for revitalizing the air transport market in the Slovak Republic. Based on the results of the research, the article defines how and under what conditions a potential virtual carrier could operate, from ticket sales to possible cooperation with other airlines. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that the model of virtual air carrier is a solution for maintaining a stable level of air traffic in several countries in the EU that have lost their air carriers during the pandemic.
This paper delves into regional airport system economics in Central Europe, with a particular focus on Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, and Croatia. This research aimed to identify key indicators ...that shape optimal business models for regional airport systems by analyzing data from 24 airports between 2016 and 2019. Through cluster analysis, airports were categorized based on performance metrics, economic indicators, and ownership structures. The findings reveal distinct groupings among regional airports and shed light on critical factors influencing their operational and financial dynamics. By offering insights into the relationships between airport system characteristics and business model effectiveness, this paper aimed to provide valuable guidance for stakeholders, policymakers, and airport management teams. It facilitates informed decision-making and strategic planning for sustainable aviation infrastructure development in the region.
Spoofing, alongside jamming of the Global Navigation Satellite System signal, remains a significant hazard during general aviation or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle operations. As aircraft utilize various ...support systems for navigation, such as INS, an insufficient Global Navigation Satellite System signal renders Unmanned Aerial Vehicles nearly uncontrollable, thereby posing increased danger to operations within airspace and to individuals on the ground. This paper primarily focuses on assessing the impact of the budget friendly Software-Defined Radio, HackRF One 1.0, on the safety of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles operations. Considering the widespread use of Software-Defined Radio devices today, with some being reasonably inexpensive, understanding their influence on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles safety is crucial. The generation of artificial interference capable of posing a potential threat in expanding Unmanned Aerial Vehicles airspace is deemed unacceptable.
This article proposes modifications of the basic training syllabus for ultralight aircraft pilots based on the statistical data and analysis of ultralight aircraft accidents in the Czechia and ...Slovakia between 2016 to 2021. The article gives an overview of the current state of ultralight aviation in both countries and its current regulations, focusing on the need for increased safety measures. The article analyses existing accident data and identifies the causes of accidents, including human factors, equipment failure and other environmental factors. Based on this analysis, training modifications are proposed to improve pilot knowledge and skills, strengthen safety procedures and protocols, and reduce the likelihood of accidents. The proposed changes include an increase in training hours and practical experience focused on emergency procedures, flight parameters, and weather conditions. The results of this study contribute to ongoing efforts to improve the safety of ultralight aviation and inform and support about policy decisions regarding training requirements and regulatory frameworks.
At present, one of the most frequently discussed topics, not only at international conferences, but also within the EU, is the issue of airport financing, as well as the thresholds at which airports ...can cover their operational costs and when the need for support is justified. The Strategic Airport Development Plan and the Airport Business Plan are one of the most important support documents for making the right decision for airport financing and prepare the project for operational and investment aid. For preparing these documents is significant the category of the airport, that means the number of passengers. This paper is focused on the methodology how can be predict the number of passengers from previous data by used the time series method.
The paper explores sustainable development in the context of European airports, analyzing economic, ecological, and social dimensions. Definitions of sustainable development evolve, with the emphasis ...on meeting current needs without compromising future generations. Four international European airports – Schiphol, Munich, Prague, and Bratislava – are compared and investigated to find out whether airport size affects sustainability. The paper reveals an interconnected relationship between these dimensions: social factors influence economic outcomes, impacting environmental resources for conservation. Ecologically, carbon emissions and noise pollution are examined, with Schiphol emerging as a leader in carbon neutrality due to its scale and resources. The paper highlights the significance of employees’ well-being for social sustainability.
Airports are no longer places used only for taking off and landing. We consider them to be institutions of great economic and social importance. They are economic generators and have an impact on the ...development of tourism and business in the regions. The constant level of gradually rising costs, competition and new trends have made airports more focused on the use of new technologies. Nowadays, these have become a trend. Airports are constantly adapting to digitization standards. They create various concepts and processes with a focus on more efficient, safer, and faster operation, technological innovation, and overall passenger’s satisfaction. However, security and safety remain a top priority for airports. Airports are open to technological innovation, but digitization is different for regional airports. For them, modern technologies represent an opportunity, but also an investment challenge. Most of them do not have enough funds for digital transformation, therefore they remain with the traditional airport concept. The performance and reliability of each deployed system needs to be tested, and this takes time. Nevertheless, the digital transformation can significantly help with this type of airport. The paper is focused on finding out how much the regional airport can save on costs if it opts for digitization technology.
While the tools of business model´s analyses focused on traditional and low-cost carriers are well elaborated by current economic research, regional air carriers stand aside from this research ...trajectory. This paper is aimed at answering the question whether the fleet commonality analysis is an adequate set-forwarding standard point to analyse business models of regional air carriers. Our analysis, covering 31 European regional air carriers (based on the descriptive data on fleet´s commonality and two variants of Herfindahl-Hirschman Index), reveals the spectrum of obtained results what indicates that there is more than one business model within the group of regional air carriers, and that fleet commonality itself is not an attribute differentiating regional air carriers from low cost carriers and traditional air carriers, nor identifying the business model of regional air carriers. This finding calls for spurring the research focused on further symptomatic features of regional air carriers in a broader context of their operation such as travel and reservation classes, customer´s loyalty programmes, network configuration, cooperation with other air carriers, domestic vs international scope of operation, cooperative arrangements with regional airports and regions within countries, participation in public service operation, and institutional framework of operation. From methodological point of view, the combination of approaches which have been already applied in the research of air carriers´ business models as well as new methodologies will be inevitable to be developed to understand more the business models of regional air carriers.
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