Turaif, close to Jordan’s border, hosts an international oil pipeline.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has canceled all flights to and from Turaif Domestic Airport in the Northern Border Province because of heavy snowfall.

Khalid Al-Khaibari, GACA’s spokesman, said that Saudi Airlines has been instructed to provide accommodation to passengers locally until the weather conditions improve. He said the decision was taken in the interests of passenger safety.

Saudia has announced that some of its flights were unable to land or take off at some airports because of the unstable weather conditions across the country.

Commenting on the situation, Capt. Suleiman Al-Muhaimedi, an air safety and accident investigator, said that pilots must be able to see outside their planes to take off or land safely, particularly in dusty, foggy or cloudy conditions.

Al-Mhaimdi said pilots cannot completely depend on the landing systems for runways at airports. They must be able to have the option of making a manual landing if the systems are faulty.

In addition, every airline company has a different set of criteria for what constitutes good vision, even though this criteria is approved by GACA. The ideal state of a runway would be if it is dry. Heavy humidity and snow are likely to prevent pilots from taking off and landing.

He said each airline company has qualified analysts to watch weather conditions at all airports, based on meteorology reports. They have an important role to play because they are ultimately responsible for the safety of planes and their passengers.

[wpResize]