MET regulation

Meteorological products and services for civil aviation in New Zealand can only be provided by organisations certificated to do so by the CAA.

Under Civil Aviation Rules, Part 174 Aviation Meteorological Service Organisations – Certifications, the Meteorological Service of New Zealand (MetService), Airways Corporation of New Zealand (Airways) and Navigatus Consulting Ltd are certificated to supply various categories of services. The majority of such services are currently provided by MetService.

There’s no formal requirement from Government for MetService to provide meteorological services to domestic civil aviation. The CAA is the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Meteorological Authority in New Zealand, and, as such, gives exclusive license to MetService to carry out the operational requirements prescribed in ICAO Annex 3 Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation. This includes the provision of OPMET (TAFs, METARs, and SPECIs for Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch aerodromes, and SIGMETs for the New Zealand and Auckland Oceanic FIRs).