Objectives

Objectives Why the MET Alliance? The MET Alliance addresses the urgent need to incorporate meteorological information in the ATM system more and better than is currently done. EUROCONTROL Performance Review Reports strongly recommend that more use should be made of meteorological information in a cost efficient manner. The meteorological and ATC communities are being challenged to address this topic. The members of the MET Alliance have significant and effective expertise in supporting ATC-processes. This expertise will be shared and further developed.

The establishment of the MET Alliance is fully in line with the industry philosophy on sharing information and maximising cooperation with other service providers and airspace users.

Current service area
The MET Alliance serves all international and domestic airports in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and France, including the lowest and highest international airports of Europe (namely Schiphol at -3m high and Samedan (Switzerland) at 1707m).
All partners are certified to ISO 9001.

The Single European Sky initiatives
The MET Alliance is the answer to the Single European Sky initiative that aims to harmonise the European airspace and the service provision therein. All individual members of the MET Alliance group are now certified under SES procedures. In order to avoid duplication of the use of resources, there will be close cooperation during the implementation phase of SES. Furthermore, the extensive operational cooperation could, ultimately, result in a virtual "one provider situation" for significant parts of the European airspace.

Current service area
The MET Alliance serves all international and domestic airports in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and France, including the lowest and highest international airports of Europe (namely Schiphol at -3m high and Samedan (Switzerland) at 1707m). All partners are certified to ISO 9001.

Sharing expertise
The MET Alliance members have unique knowledge about their own local operations and specific meteorological and climatological effects. The operational areas of the members encompass a large variety of climatological zones and landscapes. Using this broad knowledge will lead to a synergetic effect between the members of the alliance. This is not only of benefit for the current areas of operation but also for possible future service provision in new areas of operations or responsibility.
The many different projects developed among the MET Alliance members will take advantage of this large expertise.

Optimization and cost reduction
The MET Alliance members have cost reduction measures in place to deal with the requirements of airlines and regulators. The joint projects and operations of the MET Alliance will significantly contribute to these measures.

The MET Alliance, through its members, has a close relation with its users, has a knowledge of the local operations, speaks the customer language and has limited overheads and short communication lines. This results in a flexible and responsive service provider with the advantages of the support of a large organisation with significant resources.