On June 20 and 21, in the evening and at night, at Noi Bai airport (Hanoi), there were thunderstorms with strong winds, affecting many flights that could not be carried out as planned, had to wait and had to change direction to alternate airports.
Image of clouds affecting the landing area and at Noi Bai airport. Photo: VATM
Accordingly, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on June 20, at Noi Bai airport, there was a thunderstorm with strong winds, gusts of wind and visibility reduced to 4 km; then from 00:30 a.m. to 03:00 a.m. on June 21, there was another thunderstorm with very strong intensity, visibility sometimes reduced to 800 m, with strong gusts of wind.
Notably, during the thunderstorm that occurred at night, strong and prolonged tailwinds and clouds blocked the landing area, making it difficult for the plane to land and forcing it to circle and wait.
Due to strong thunderstorms and sustained tailwinds, 13 flights had to wait, 4 flights had to change direction to alternate airports in Hai Phong and Nanning, and after the thunderstorms ended, they landed back at Noi Bai airport.
On the evening of the 21st, thunderstorms appeared in the Noi Bai area. However, at Noi Bai airport, there was only light rain, good visibility and gusty winds. Strong thunderstorms occurred mainly in the surrounding area, but clouds blocked landing and takeoff, causing planes to be unable to land, forcing 20 flights to circle and wait, and no flights had to divert to the alternate airport.
Radar cloud images and lightning locator on June 21, 2023 show clouds blocking takeoff and landing and thunderstorms mainly in the vicinity of Noi Bai airport. Photo: VATM
Image of many flights waiting at Noi Bai airport on the evening of June 21, 2023. Photo: VATM
It can be seen that thunderstorms accompanied by many dangerous weather phenomena such as gusts, strong winds, wind shear, heavy rain reducing visibility or clouds blocking take-off and landing have greatly affected the operation of airlines. Meanwhile, the daily flight density at Noi Bai airport is increasing, with an average of over 600 take-offs and landings per day.
Therefore, the Forecaster of Noi Bai Aviation Meteorological Center always sticks to the duty position, always monitors and analyzes tools such as satellite cloud images, radar images, monitoring equipment, thunderstorm and wind shear warnings to proactively and promptly advise the Air Traffic Controller at Noi Bai about the intensity, duration or phenomena affecting the take-off and landing area and at the airport so that the Air Traffic Controller can choose the appropriate take-off and landing route, without interruption during the operation to ensure safety, harmony and efficiency in the flight operation assurance chain.
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