Haze, fog, smoke, and dust repeatedly reduce visibility at airports, yet evidence on their operational and safety consequences is fragmented across meteorology, environmental science, and aviation engineering. This review aimed to synthesize how haze and low-visibility conditions affect aviation operations and safety, and to identify proposed forecasting and mitigation approaches. We conducted a PRISMA 2020-guided systematic literature review. We searched Scopus in June 2026 (234 records); after applying document-type and open-access filters, we screened 40 records and included 22 articles published in 2016–2026. We appraised quality with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, mapped publication patterns with Bibliometrix and VOSviewer, and synthesized findings through hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis. Observational (45.5%) and forecasting (22.7%) studies dominated, mostly single-airport cases in Asia and Europe. Five themes emerged: drivers of visibility deterioration (10 studies), operational impacts (8), safety impacts (7), forecasting and monitoring (5), and technological mitigation (7). Reduced visibility consistently triggered low-visibility procedures, reduced runway capacity, and increased delays, whereas safety effects were inferred rather than measured. Probabilistic and machine-learning forecasts outperformed simple baselines but were rarely linked to operational decisions, and fire-related tropical haze was under-represented. This review's novelty is a hazard–capability–outcome framework showing that airport capability, not meteorology alone, determines the size of visibility-related impacts. Airport operators and regulators should integrate probabilistic visibility forecasts and landing-system upgrades into capacity and safety planning, and haze-prone countries such as Indonesia should link fire and air-quality monitoring with aviation meteorological services.
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Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang
Meteorological, Climatological, And Geophysical Agency
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