Vaisala introduces a completely new way of producing weather information for aviation purposes. 
In cooperation with Finnish airport and air navigation services provider Finavia, Vaisala has developed a concept called "AWOS as a Service", a solution which transfers the ownership and operation of all weather observation systems at an airport to Vaisala who then delivers the data to the customer as an automated service.
"Production of weather observations is one of those functions in airports that can be outsourced, and being able to leave that entire activity to someone else means that we can concentrate more efficiently in ATS and ANS services provision for our customers. All in all, this has a significant effect on the investments, efficiency and reliability of our operations. As the leading aviation weather solutions provider in the world, Vaisala was a natural choice for a partner", says Hannu Hervos, Vice President at Finavia’s Air Navigation Services.
"For Vaisala, the concept opens up opportunities to extend the scope of our aviation weather expertise into new areas. For the customer, it is an easy and economical solution to receive the weather data they need to serve their customers. What we’re talking about is a clear win-win situation for both parties," says Hannu Katajamäki, Director of Vaisala’s Airports business.
The AWOS as a Service solution offers the airports a modern weather observation system without a care or concern for its operation. Vaisala makes sure that the system remains fully operational and compliant to regulations at all times, and continuously monitors its performance via a remote access.
Technically the solution is built around a Vaisala AviMet system with instrumentation that is based on each airport’s ICAO category. The system includes all necessary displays for air traffic control, and provides the customer with real time weather data as well as automated METAR and SPECI messages.
At the moment, the new system is in operational use at Turku and Oulu airports, and undergoing a systems testing phase in two other Finnish airports. The AWOS as a Service concept has been approved by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi.