Executive Summary

Small airports open a door to the world, increasing opportunities for both business and tourism in neighboring communities. Despite the positive impact small airports have on their surrounding communities, they are seldom part of national air transport development programs. Small airport safety levels are frequently disregarded, as incident or accident statistics for this segment are often incomplete or even missing. In addition, safety-enhancing technology is typically designed for use at larger airports.

Small airports often lack the resources needed to make significant improvements to their operational safety. However, there are ways to take action. First, small airport incident and accident data should be systematically gathered at the national level. In addition, a forum for sharing field-proven safety-enhancing solutions should be established for small airport managers and operators. This could also serve as a place for stakeholders to make their voice heard on safety-related issues.

These actions would lead to better-informed decision makers at the national level. The cooperation of multiple stakeholders would enable the identification of economically and technically feasible solutions. Understanding the situation, knowing the right solutions, and taking the appropriate steps towards deploying these solutions, would lead to permanently improved safety levels at small airports.

Small airports are primarily used for general aviation or low-frequency scheduled traffic, and they also serve as secondary airports or alternatives to larger hubs. Often closer to home and final destinations for travelers, they provide local communities with access to the rest of the country and the world. An estimated 98% of all the airports around the world can be categorized as small or medium sized. For example, in Africa alone, small airports represent 81% of the total airports across the continent (Figure 1).

Airport size        Number of Airports        Percentage

of total

Large    15           1 %

Medium              440         19 %

Small    1917       81 %

Total     2372       100 %

Figure 1. Estimated number of small, medium, and large airports in Africa.

Small airports share many common features. They usually only have one runway, which is non-categorized. There is no requirement for categorization, as the need for full operational readiness in adverse weather conditions is not mandatory. They also typically lack any Instrument Landing System (ILS). Generally, local weather information is not automatically generated at small airports - a worn-out windsock is often the only weather indicator they have. Small airports are usually not staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If there are any permanent personnel on duty at the airport, they are typically very few, and do not usually have the same level of specialization as their colleagues at larger airports.

Small airport management and operators face many challenges. Due to the size and relatively low importance of smaller airports, regional or national air transport development usually focuses on international and medium-sized regional hubs. Smaller airports often fly below the development-initiative radar. In addition, many standardized airport systems have been developed based on the needs of larger airports. They fulfill all the requirements of international air navigation set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other national and international regulatory bodies. Because of this, the systems are highly complex and, in many cases, very costly to implement.

The presence of skilled specialist around the clock, as well as adequate funding to train on and operate these systems, is usually only available at larger airports. At small airports, it may not be necessary to maintain all of the services and complicated communication, navigation and surveillance systems commonly deployed at large airports. Nevertheless, for pilots to perform safe take-offs and landings at these airports, the fundamentals must be the same. Sophisticated traffic management may not be required due to lower traffic volumes, but knowledge of local weather conditions is still of high importance to safely operate the aircraft.

Vaisala, a world leader in weather measurement and reporting solutions, has taken on this challenge by developing an automated weather reporter specifically designed with small airport needs in mind. The weather reporter uses the same high-quality components as those employed at large airports, providing all of the weather information necessary for pilots to make sound operational decisions. The solution is fully automated and can be operational without any human involvement, which frees up scarce resources at smaller airports because the information is available even when the airport has no on-duty staff. The user interfaces and technical features were designed for ease of use, so that even non-specialists can operate the system. The whole solution is deployed on one installation site and uses wireless communication technology, which reduces the need for expensive power and data communication infrastructure.

In other words, there are solutions on the market designed to improve the safety of small airport operations. The challenge is to get decision-makers to recognize the need for increasing safety at these airports. Step one toward this goal is to start systematically recording the incidents and accidents at small airports. In many countries, statistics only cover scheduled commercial traffic, not all general and private aviation safety breaches. This step would make the safety situation transparent to stakeholders. Additionally, this information should be made available to the authorities responsible for developing safe national air transportation systems, raising their awareness of the actual safety levels at small airports.

Individually, small airports often do not have the resources to investigate and compare different safety-enhancing solutions. A platform for sharing experiences should be made available for managers and operators of small airports, giving them the opportunity to learn from each other. The insight each airport has to offer is not currently being utilized for improving the safety of all small airports. This knowledge-sharing approach could be especially useful in Africa, where small airports could use it for networking and to implement field-proven concepts that improve safety.

A forum where stakeholders could request and make recommendations specifically designed for the needs of small airports could be very beneficial. Small airports could make improvements using solutions that have been successful in the same type of operational environment. Decision makers would receive recommendations from actual users from one place, without having to evaluate multiple opinions and proposals. There are also economic gains to be achieved. Standardizing the solutions deployed at small airports enables higher purchasing volumes and efficient training programs.

In conclusion, airport and aviation safety should be taken seriously, regardless of the size of the airport. The solutions designed for large international airports are almost never feasible for implementation at small airports. Any solutions deployed should be scalable. A flexible solution does not imply lower quality standards. On the contrary, the solution should be of highest standards for all airports. Small airports do not have the resources to make significant improvements independently. Therefore, joint initiatives that combine the strengths of multiple stakeholders should be pursued to make permanent improvements in the operational safety of small airports.