Publish weather forecasts only from CAA

The Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued decision No 116/2023, specifying the executive regulations of the Civil Aviation Law.

Article 46 of the law, forecasts, warnings, and meteorological reports issued by the authority or Oman Meteorology are the only official sources for such, while Article 47 states that all media outlets are prohibited from publishing any information or meteorological data other than those obtained from the authority.

Article 48 says, “It is not permissible to practice any work related to the activities of meteorological services in the Sultanate of Oman, such as installing a meteorological station, providing meteorological services, or carrying out meteorological training activities, except after obtaining the approval of the authority in accordance with the conditions and procedures for which a decision is issued by CAA.”

Article 49 states that it is prohibited to use meteorological data or information obtained from the competent authority for purposes other than those authorised, except after obtaining the approval of the competent authority.

Article 50 states that the person licensed for the activities of meteorological services and other persons is prohibited from exchanging information and data with any local, regional or international entity, with the exception of information and data published by the competent authority.

It is also prohibited to publish or broadcast meteorological information, data, alerts or warnings that are deceptive or misleading.

Article 51 states that it is prohibited to touch or tamper with monitoring and remote sensing equipment or devices or to move them, as well as prohibiting attacks on monitoring stations and the like and the prohibitions of meteorological stations.

Earlier, CAA had said that those violating provisions of executive decisions will be punished with an imprisonment period of not less than one and not more than one year. A fine of RO 15,000 and not more than RO 50,000 will be imposed.

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