Challenging weather conditions across the globe have meant airports need to regularly revise and update their contingency plans. Artemis Aerospace looks at what is being done to keep the runways fully operational.
Around the world, snowfall, hurricanes, storms and flooding, as well as extreme heat, have become regular occurrences. These fluctuations in weather conditions are enough to cause major difficulties in any commercial field, but for airports, which are reliant on aircraft being able to take off and land safely, it’s a major concern.
In November last year, Eurocontrol, the European air traffic navigation body, and ACI Europe, the airports association, jointly published a briefing entitled ‘Adapting Aviation to a Changing Climate’, which looks at climate change impacts on airports and calls on them to focus on plans for adapting to more frequent disruptive weather patterns, and conduct climate change risk assessments.
The briefing advises that issues to be looked at include heatwaves which can buckle runways, as happened in 2022 at Luton Airport, and require increased demand for air conditioning inside terminals. Another area is the escalating number of thunderstorms over central and eastern Europe, which are strong enough to cause damage to infrastructure as well as the risk of flooding to airports in coastal areas. These are, of course, not just European but worldwide concerns; the first disruptive storm of 2025 in America has already caused heavy snowfall in some states. On 5th January there were 1,811 flight cancellations and 8,501 delays in and out of American airports due to blizzard conditions.
Keeping runways clear and safe is a top priority for airports. Ice and snow are obviously hugely problematic, along with dangerous crosswinds or tailwinds and heavy rain which can cause safety issues for ground crew as well as everyone on an aircraft. In thunderstorms, lightning strikes can be a major risk to life as well as to crucial electronics both on board and in the control tower.
So how do airports plan ahead and rise to the challenge of more frequent and increasingly unpredictable bad weather?
Most airports use customised forecasting for severe weather resilience, but with technological advances this can be tailored even more specifically so that an airport has its own local weather station network. This can analyse real-time weather updates and enable airports to make informed decisions. Extreme weather can occur over a surprisingly small area and having the relevant insight into conditions precisely over the airport can make a big difference to accurate planning.
Runways can be fitted with surface drainage systems, designed to draw rainwater away from the surface with channels at the correct gradient. This not only reduces the chance of an aircraft hydroplaning but also helps to keep surfaces in good condition. Water, snow and ice can all cause deterioration such as cracks or potholes. If an airport is experiencing an increased amount of rain due to worsening weather conditions and hydroplaning is a risk,
a porous friction overlay, or transverse grooving, can be applied to the runway. Alternatively, a rubberised friction coating can be applied to the runway to improve traction.
Glycol-based de-icers are regularly used to stop ice and snow building up on the surface of runways. They are usually solid compounds of formic acid and sodium, or liquid ones of formic acid and potassium. They are applied to the surface prior to freezing, so an accurate forecast of a drop in temperature is important.
There have been experiments with heated runways; at the beginning of the 2000s, following a series of bad snowstorms at Heathrow, the airport looked at intersectional heat transfer technology. This works by harvesting the heat from the summer from a solar water system which is embedded within the runway. The water is stored underground until cold weather and then used to keep the runway temperature above freezing by circulating it around a series of pipes. However, this is an extremely expensive method, and it hasn’t been fully utilised anywhere. In addition, there are concerns about the management of the meltwater which could be a risk itself. Snow ploughs and snow blowers are still the most effective runway clearance method.
At the other end of the scale, climate change means that airports in temperate climates are becoming hotter, and those in hot climates face serious problems. Extreme heat can reduce an aircraft engine’s thrust; if this becomes commonplace, runways may need to be extended for it to lift off and gain altitude in safety, aircraft may need to reduce the amount of baggage or fuel, or the departure trajectory may have to be changed to avoid higher terrain. Some airports have risen to the challenge of reducing temperature inside terminals by swapping ordinary glass for ‘smart glass’, which has been demonstrated to decrease thermal transmittance, thus reducing air conditioning costs. Specialised coating with high solar reflectance can be applied to runways to cool them; painting the runway a light colour can also help to alleviate the temperature on the runway surface.
With dangerous weather events becoming more commonplace, there is no doubt that wherever an airport is situated, its management will need to rise to the challenge of protecting employees and passengers from extreme conditions.
