Muir Matheson has completed deals, worth in the region of £250,000 each, with Heathrow and Aberdeen respectively to provide airport weather monitoring systems at both.

Consequently, not only do we now service every major airport in the UK and Ireland where National Air Traffic Services (NATS) operate, but we have also consolidated our position as the leading supplier of airport weather monitoring systems in the UK.

The first system for Heathrow was delivered in 2005 and a second system for the new control tower will be supplied in 2006. Aberdeen’s system will be installed in March of this year and will go live in the summer.

Muir Matheson’s Managing Director, Philip Goodall, explains more: “Over the last few years we have developed our airport team, which includes engineers and an air traffic control specialist, specifically to design, build and support aviation weather systems. Their experience has ensured the ongoing success we are now enjoying both in the UK and overseas and enables us to meet changing requirements by constantly upgrading our products.”

The systems measure basic elements such as wind, temperature, humidity and pressure as well as cloud and visibility. They provide automatic and semi-automatic generation of met reports with information provided to Air Traffic Control and to pilots by a voice output on an airband frequency.

NATS General Manager at Heathrow, Martyn Jeffery, commented, “In October 2005, the responsibility for aviation met observations at Heathrow transferred from the UK Met Office to NATS using the Muir Matheson airport weather system (SAMOS). Many of the Air Traffic Services Assistants (ATSAs) were initially sceptical about SAMOS, but the training proved extremely successful and as the ATSAs gained confidence using the equipment, this scepticism evaporated.  They have now embraced it and some are even considering obtaining a National Vocational Qualification in weather observation, which is a tremendous result.  They have also commented that they had no real difficulties learning the SAMOS features and they find it easy to use.  The transition from the Met Office went extremely smoothly and we were complimented by the airlines on a seamless changeover.  It is a tribute to all the staff involved at Muir Matheson that this project has been so successful and I would like to personally thank Philip Goodall and the whole Muir Matheson team for their efforts.”  

“The new systems at Heathrow and Aberdeen are a significant boost for the company,” added Philip. “Muir Matheson now supports over 40 systems at airports throughout the UK and Ireland – an achievement we are very proud of.”

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