What Is the Difference Between a Basic Aviation Feasibility Check and a Detailed Aviation Risk Assessment?

A basic aviation feasibility check is mainly designed to answer a simple question, “Are there any showstoppers from an aviation perspective?”. This should identify potential aviation risks that could affect the likelihood of the project receiving planning permission, and assign an initial risk level. It tends to be broad and decision-oriented, helping to inform a developer whether to proceed with the project, abandon it, or whether it needs a more detailed study.

A detailed aviation risk assessment should answer deeper questions, like “What are the technical and operational impacts, and can these be mitigated if needed?” It often involves the same first stage as a basic aviation feasibility check, but where any medium or higher risks are identified, further detailed modelling/assessment should be undertaken (as appropriate) to determine the technical and operational impact. A detailed risk assessment should also identify and start to evaluate potential mitigation options.

Practical Example – Wind Development

Consider a proposed wind development that will be located near to a licensed airport. If this is proposed as a single wind turbine, the project is likely to be quite fee-sensitive and any significant aviation impacts have the potential to be showstoppers even if they are mitigatable, because the fees could be too high to manage in the project budget. In this case, a basic aviation feasibility check is often a good idea to undertake as early as possible, and before a detailed assessment, as it will be less costly and will identify any potential showstoppers before the project progresses further. The feasibility check could identify if there is any aviation infrastructure (radar or airports) in the area that could be impacted, and assign an initial high-level associated risk.

Whereas if a multiple turbine development consisting of 5-10 turbines is proposed in the same location, the same aviation impacts might not be showstoppers as the mitigation costs might be offset by the financial benefits of the development. Therefore, it might be worth just going straight to the detailed assessment. A detailed risk assessment would include initial feasibility checks and then include line of sight/detectability assessments for the relevant radar infrastructure, and obstacle limitation surfaces assessment for the licensed airport.

About Pager Power

Pager Power has expertise in helping wind developers assess the impacts of both offshore and onshore wind projects upon aviation operations and infrastructure, as well as engaging with stakeholders like NATS, the MoD, and airport safeguarding teams. Pager Power can advise developers on the location of the nearest aviation infrastructure, whether any technical impacts are possible, whether any operational impacts are likely to be possible, and how to approach mitigation. 

For more information about what we do, please get in touch.

Image accreditation: Piotr Pękala (November 2024) from Unsplash.com. Last accessed on 15 June 2026. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/the-sun-is-setting-over-a-small-airport-6ZSdhFOMfxE