Considering the unfavorable weather conditions recorded in these days that affected the safe operation of flights at the "Stefan cel Mare-Suceava" Airport and the numerous reports appearing in the mass media, the local authorities make the following clarifications:
The frozen and dense fog did not allow the aircraft to land safely, the visibility being below the minimum of the ILS CAT II system, less than 100m horizontally and the cloud ceiling below 30m. The existing ILS system at Suceava Airport is a system found at most airports in the country. Better performing equipment, ILS cat III B, can be found at the Henri Coandă airports in Bucharest and Traian Vuia in Timișoara, and the latter with certain visibility limits. The ILS equipment and the operationalization of the system belong to the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration-ROMATSA.
Suceava airport has ILS CAT II system
The airport provides the necessary infrastructure to service aircraft on the ground, in this activity its own personnel are employed, but not involved in the processing of passengers and check-in procedures. Communication with the passenger is carried out through the check-in agents, who ensure the connection between the passengers and the airline. The check-in agents are employees of the Romanian Airport Services company, who have a direct contract with the air operators. Check-in agents can provide information to passengers about the status of flights to the extent that it is available. The waiting time for new information varies, considering that all information comes from the headquarters of the airlines and directly depends on the available flight resource. The decision to cancel, reschedule or divert a flight to another airport belongs strictly to the airline; moreover, the company takes care of all formalities related to the transport and accommodation of passengers affected by flight delays/cancellations/rescheduling.
The Airport's priority is that all air operations can be carried out in safe and secure conditions, so that passengers and airport staff are not put at risk. Weather conditions are beyond our control. We apologize to all affected passengers and ask that they consider maintaining contact with the air operator from whom they purchased tickets and with their representatives at all times. Also, the updated situation of canceled or diverted flights can be found on the website of Suceava Airport.