Flight weather services: SPÖ against centralization – salzburg.ORF.at
The plans of the Austro Control air traffic control authority, which reports to the Ministry of Transport, are particularly difficult for Salzburg and Innsbruck airports. There are numerous high mountains in the immediate vicinity of the slopes with the corresponding dangers from wind and weather changes, according to the Salzburg Social Democrats.
The conversion to a purely technical-digital sensor system with remote control from Vienna is a danger for flight operations over the mountains, says David Egger, Salzburg SPÖ party leader and opposition politician in the state parliament.
Reference to dangers of the microclimate
He is now appealing to Minister Gewessler to prevent this centralization: “It would be an attack on the safety of air travelers. Alpine weather follows microclimatic rules that cannot be remotely controlled and set in Vienna.”
The topic was most recently discussed among experts on one of the last weekends, when a severe storm affected the charter traffic of winter tourists in Salzburg and Innsbruck:
Call a minister
Even when there is a foehn wind, thunderstorms and fog, it is necessary for highly trained experts to assess the situation on the spot and advise the air traffic controllers directly on the tower: “Leonore Gewessler should think twice about whether they are really endangering flight safety for ideological reasons and to save money will,” said politician Egger.
“Why haven’t any local experts been involved so far?”
The Salzburg SPÖ member of the National Council, Cornelia Ecker, submitted a parliamentary question to the head of department on the subject: “How does the Federal Minister want to ensure that there is no fatal security risk in the event of sensor malfunctions without meteorological staff on site?” Ecker calls it Example of severe lightning strikes that could paralyze electronic sensors within a very short time.
Ecker also wants to know why Austro Control and the higher-level Federal Ministry have so far not involved local experts in the federal states in the plans: “Who is likely to be responsible if a safety-related incident occurs or even an aircraft accident occurs due to incorrect or missing flight weather reports?”
Salzburg’s SPÖ also insists on federalism
The SPÖ also criticizes that with the planned centralization of the Salzburg and Innsbruck regions, very high-quality jobs will be lost – which means a weakening of federalism in Austria, as can also be observed with other topics.
The international airports in Salzburg and Innsbruck are recovering to some extent from the economically disastrous CoV years, and now new beatings are being thrown at them again. The Social Democrats expect an answer to their parliamentary question at the next session of the National Council.