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Monthly Archives: October 2012

Are UK migration figures estimation?

October 25, 2012
Business Aviation News
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The government denies that the IPS is a faulty instrument for measuring its progress on migration for the UK. Yet there does not seem to be an accurate system for counting people in and out of the country and government has promised to reduce net migration (the difference between those entering and leaving the country) to “tens of thousands” by 2015.

Border Management

The e-borders scheme meant to do this activity, and is still a work in progress. Despite government assurances, according to experts when it comes to measuring how many people are leaving the country is unclear and the increasingly rigid process it is to get a visa for the UK, it seems there is no way of knowing if someone is still in the country when it expires. E-borders replaced the old paper-based embarkation system, scrapped in the 1990s.

IPS emigration estimates are based on interviews with just 2,000 people and there is currently no alternative source of data to measure them against. Instead the government relies on the answers given by a sample of travellers who agree to be stopped and questioned by a team of social survey interviewers at Heathrow and other main air, sea and rail points of entry to the UK.

E-borders which was primarily meant to improve security, when combined with a biometric identity card scheme, began collecting details of passenger and crews for inbound flights from outside the EU at nine airports in March. The plan now is to extend it to ports and railway stations by 2014 and to passengers from within the EU by 2015. But that will depend on persuading all EU countries to share passenger and crew list information – quite a number of them regard this as illegal under European free movement laws.

Electronic border schemes can be adopted by both airlines and airports. One product by ARINC, Electronic Borders, is designed to adapt to the changes in operational process and support new technology, enabling Border Control agencies to flex with changing demands and capabilities.

Today it is not enough to simply secure borders from unauthorised entry by known undesirables. Now it is necessary to manage the stay of travellers, from entry through to exit, to know who has been in the country and when they left.

The ARINC Border Management System delivers a full stay management capability, screening all travellers before they travel, and managing visitors throughout their stay. For more information please visit the ARINC Electronic Borders website.

Next Generation Self-service Bag Drop

October 25, 2012
Business Aviation News
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Amsterdam Airport Schiphol provides one of Europe’s best reference sites for self-service bag drop and 12 units are in place in Departure Hall 2.

ICM Airport Technics has supplied its self-service baggage drop system to Qantas as part of the airline’s Next Generation Check-In programme.

ICM Airport Technics has supplied its self-service baggage drop system to Qantas as part of the airline’s Next Generation Check-In programme.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol provides one of Europe’s best reference sites for self-service bag drop and this year, 6 new self-service bag drop systems were introduced in Departure Hall 2, taking the total number to 12. Among the latest airports to announce an intention to implement such systems is Bologna Airport, which is expected to complete the installation of 14 units by mid-2013. Aéroports de Paris has also successfully installed a system at Paris-Orly and will soon be extended to Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

The benefits of allowing passengers to take charge of the check-in and bag drop process themselves are clear. For the airline it means fewer agents are needed, passenger processing is faster and congestion around check-in desks is reduced. For the airport, it enhances the check-in capacity, reduces operational costs and allows for the optimisation of existing space. Airports and airlines need to decide whether to implement a one- or two-step solution. The first option allows the process of printing and attaching bag tags and depositing the bag into the system, completed in a single transaction. The second requires the passenger to print their bag tags at a self-service kiosk, before depositing their bag at a separate location.

As Vaessen explained, the implementation at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol makes use of the one-step process. “There were two main reasons for using one-step. The first was our home check-in passengers. More than 50% of our passengers check-in at home, so we didn’t want all of these to still have to go to a kiosk when they arrive at the airport and we simply wouldn’t have enough room for all of the kiosks. The one-step or two-step process depends very much on the infrastructure of the airport.”

The implementation by Qantas, ICM Airport Technics’ two-step solution is now operated across 8 airport terminals in Australia and London Heathrow a total of 84 units. Duncan Watson, Qantas Head of Global Marketing Operations uses the two-step process, explained that the process “maximises the available real estate for the airport departures concourse”. He added: “The two-stage process results in significant savings in both expenditure and footprint. It is better for the passenger to spend two minutes in Area A and subsequently 30 seconds in Area B, compared to two-and-a-half minutes in a single stage process.”

One product available for self service check-in is ARINC’s ExpressDropTM, the world’s first common bag drop application for passengers who have already checked in on the Web, at a self-service kiosk or on their mobile phone. For more details please visit the ARINC ExpressDropTMsite.

New aviation nutritionist for Tastefully Yours

October 24, 2012
Business Aviation News
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The Atlanta-based inflight catering company, Tastefully Yours, has appointed Heather Hibbin as a full time nutritionist. Heather who holds a PPL, will support and develop new menus for the aviation client based clients and starts with immediate effect. She will complement the existing 15 strong catering team based at the headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a first for aviation catering, Tastefully Yours, has created this new position in response to a growing demand from executive passengers who are becoming increasingly aware of the properties of their inflight diet. Menus will be created that will support crew activity to ensure they can perform at optimum levels during flights so reducing the risk of fatigue and potential risk.

Paula Kraft, president of Tastefully Yours said, “A dietician working in aviation understands the differences a person’s body encounters at altitude and can therefore provide specifically chosen menus that will support not only the passengers comfort but also support crew’s operating capability,” she continued, “A well fed crew is less likely to become sick so down time for owners and operator is also reduced,” Kraft continues.

The nutritionist appointment is part of a wider overall commitment to the aviation catering Safety Management System developed to improve the standards of service within this particular sector. It was presented to the NBAA Flight Attendants Committee at their Chicago Symposium held in June 2012.

Ms Hibbin who joins Tastefully Yours from Cobb & Douglas Public Health Nutrition Services. will be responsible for creating lighter versions of existing menus, with qualified nutritional information, ingredients and creating menus for special dietary requests . She stated, “Working with Tastefully Yours presents a whole new set of challenges for me and it is exciting to think that the nutrition knowledge I have can enhance the experience of crew and passengers alike. Together with Paula’s aviation awareness I hope we can generate an even more valuable service for our executive aviation client base,”.

NBAA 2012 ARINC & FlightAware

October 24, 2012
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With immediate effect, ARINC Direct will exchange information with FlightAware to provide customers with a secure and customized FlightAware interface on ARINC Direct’s website. This will develop FlightAware live flight tracking information and ARINC Direct customers will now seamlessly be able to benefit from access to FlightAware’s live web-based flight tracking and fleet maps, including streaming live flight and map updates, worldwide enroute navigation data and a host of other maps and overlays. Messaging the aircraft, worldwide position and flight plan display, arrival and departure information, flight history and airport delay information are also included.

NBAA 2012 ARINC & FlightAware

The current “Track Flights” service on ARINC Direct’s website will be completely replaced with the FlightAware powered tracker. ARINC Direct customers will be provided with worldwide flight tracking on a customized FlightAware display.

Featuring the largest flight tracking website in the world with over three million users, FlightAware was the first in the market to offer web-based flight tracking of private and commercial aircraft, primarily providing services and data to aircraft and airport operators, as well as other aviation organizations to assist in their operations.

ARINC also provide an aircraft messaging consultancy service for airlines to measure their current Type B usage and costs. ARINC say that they are able to provide savings to the majority of customers and offer a free, no obligation tool. The Type B Messaging tool can be found here.

Gloucestershire airport boosts business with runway

October 23, 2012
Business Aviation News
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To attract more business aviation Gloucestershire airport has extended its runway, said the airport’s head of operations, Darren Lewington,”Although only 12m of additional tarmac has been laid, the removal of obstacles nearby and the creation of an overrun means the landing distances available for aircraft have increased by up to 150m,” he added “The extra runway distances make a huge difference to the operators of the larger aircraft that currently use the airport and will generate additional business for us,”

Mr Lewington also said, “Business aviation movements make up around 5% of the take-off and landings, but they generate 30% of our revenue.” A large volume of activity is from general aviation aircraft, with approximately 70,000 actions annually. “With the closure of Filton airport, near Bristol, at the end of the year, there is already additional demand from corporate aircraft flying to the southwest of England. We are ideally placed to serve high net worth individuals in this region, as well as the Birmingham and Oxford catchment,” he adds.

Business aviation remains significant for airports across the country but increasingly as costs rise for operators they are looking for new, cost effective ways of running their businesses. Flight operations can be a significant outlay, and whilst operators cannot compromise on safety there are now solutions to make improve efficiency of all aspects of operations. ARINC Direct for example offer complete solutions for business aviation including all aircraft communications, flight support and planning services and even ancillary services such as aircraft broadband. For further information please visit the ARINC Direct website.

Focus on: Type B Messaging Systems

October 20, 2012
Business Aviation News
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I wanted to take a look at a solution for aviation communications; AviNet Type B messaging from ARINC as it delivers an unbeatable combination of high value and low cost for both commercial and business aviation. GLOBALink ACARS®, passenger reservations, aviation weather data and flight planning are a few message types that can transmitted, and ARINC offers a free messaging audit.

For over 50 years ARINC has operated an IATA Type B and Type A message switching service and over 700 companies depend on their network. They comply with all IATA Type B and Type A standards as well as support IATA messaging between customers and trading partners in the aviation industry. By using AviNet Type B Messaging companies can effectively communicate and share vital information with business partners, operators, and applications globally.

Type B Customers are able to communicate with entities on other networks, including FAA NADIN I and II, AFTN, and SITA. ARINC supports ATA/IATA type B message, formats various message reassurance procedures such as the BATAP and IBM MQ Series. AviNet can also manage non-IATA messages in addition to standard ATA/IATA formats.

Type B Messaging can seem to be complex and confusing, but ARINC work closely with the client to provide a consultation on the current messaging environment and to find an appropriate Type B Messaging pricing scheme. They maintain that they typically save customers over 30% on their existing Type B Messaging costs.

To find out more: typebmessaging-avinet.com

Focus on: The comprehensive suite of security solutions from ARINC

October 15, 2012
Business Aviation News
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ARINC Advanced Information Management (AIM) security solution, concentrates on current security issues that are designed to look into the future needs of businesses, supplying a comprehensive suite of solutions by skilled staff with PMI-based expertise delivering mission-critical security systems, with experience all around the world.

ARINC are a U.S. market leader in nuclear power integrated security systems, and also provides access, command and control for secure government facilities, military installations, seaports, and airports. They specialise on the awareness that is required for the safety and security of personnel, passengers, and facilities. Their wide range of solutions include comprehensive physical security that can integrate with an entire site’s video surveillance, access control, detection devices, notification, digital signage, and converged network technology.

ARINC Advanced Information Management is able to deliver highly-efficient and cost-effective solutions optimized for any site. ARINC has more than two decades of experience for the military, government, airport, and aviation industries, using the top leading equipment, physical security devices, digital media, and information technology available, tailoring solutions to meet requirements.

To find out more see: psim.aero

Private Sector Emerging Cyber-Security Pressures

October 13, 2012
Business Aviation News
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The large number of applications submitted exceeding ICANN’s original projections can be explained, with the new gTLD program having a profound impact on the private sector’s increasing dominance over Internet information resources and ownership of critical registry technical infrastructure assets. It is projected only the private sector will take full advantage of the commercial possibilities offered by the introduction of new gTLDs creating new innovations.

The successful introduction of new gTLDs will also create new challenges of security for the private sector. Creation of Internet additional domains would expose to different security risks on the Internet. Applicants are expected to describe in details the security policies and procedures of the proposed registry, and to go to some considerable depth in explaining how denial of service attacks would be mitigated, and describe their computer and network incident response policies, plans, and processes; the types of defences that will be deployed against threats, etc. What ICANN considers as a robust response to the Security Question must show “evidence of highly developed and detailed security capabilities” amongst other requirements, coupled with an independent assessment report that demonstrates effective security controls as proof of conformance to the ISO27001 Certification Standard.

Cyber-security threats have now emerged as the defining security challenges of the global Internet economy. National Security operatives are now seized by the issue of Cyber-security. They are actually now more worried and concerned about security threats on computers and information resources than a physical terrorist attack that can be easily detected and disrupted in an airport. Sharing advance passenger information on airline passengers for example between the United States and European countries will make it more difficult for a terrorist to board an airline flying between Europe the USA. Moreover, increased and more efficient traditional spying has helped security and anti-terrorism agencies to more accurately identify and prevent terrorists from carrying out their wicked plans, but the identity of cyber-warriors remain very much anonymous, and pinpointing their exact geographical location remains a major technical challenge.

Advance Passenger Information (API), already obligatory in the USA and across all EU member states, is increasingly required by governments around the world.  Combined with Passenger Name Records (PNR), this information must be sent by the airlines to the destination country’s border security department to facilitate the passenger screening that is crucial for effective border management.

For more information on API and its transmission please visit this site from ARINC.

Rise and Fall of the Business Aircraft Industry 2012

October 10, 2012
Business Aviation News
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The 2012 business aviation industry has showed a weak performance. One small improvement was with active turbine corporate aircraft fleet which climbed to more than 29,000 compared to 28,300 in 2011, while the jet fleet has risen by a small 565 to 17,974.

One of the best areas to make improvements is the Asia-Pacific countries, The FlightGlobal Ascend online database shows that this fleet has risen by nearly 150 aircraft to 834 jests and 625 turboprops. The Chinese market shows an impressive fleet gain but China has not turned into the cash cow that was expected by some analysts. It has been suggested by Foley that China has provided “a conveniently timed mini-rescue”, for the aircraft industry. It has been good while it lasted but jet manufactures are now concentrating on preserving orders rather than being in sales mode.

Rise and Fall of the Business Aircraft Industry 2012

According to Aboulafia a full recovery will only occur when the world’s economies finally stabilize at some time in the future and the jet fleet replacement cycle in the USA is in full swing. USA has the largest business aircraft fleet but the market is fragile.

In Europe the last 12 months have been disastrous with the number of business jet and turboprop fleet reducing by 30 aircraft. This is largely caused by the global recession that has continued to grip this region. Not surprisingly the worst hit countries in Europe are Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

SwiftBroadband uptake booms

October 4, 2012
Business Aviation News
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The uptake of SwiftBroadband (SBB) services among business aviation users continues at a cracking pace. Simultaneously, ARINC Direct has continued to design and implement new products and services to support this.

Cabin hotspot functionality eases the burden of managing the costs of SBB by enabling usernames and credit card billing. This is an attractive concept, too, with charter operators, and has also been taken up by corporate flight departments wanting to manage costs and budgets across departments using the business jet. Other management functions such as usage alerts have also been added.

If a customer has SBB and uses ARINC Direct’s iPad app they have a completely dynamic aviation information platform that surpasses traditional methods of obtaining flight data. At the half-year mark ARINC Direct’s customer base in EMEA and Asia Pacific had already achieved over 15% growth. The ARINC app is available on the Apple iTunes store.

ARINC Direct has been at the forefront using web enabled technologies since the business unit was founded in 2003, and the increasing availability of web access, suitable hardware and client-based application technology presents new opportunities for the way in which it interacts with its customers. Almost half of all ARINC Direct customers are now using the iPad app.

For more information on ARINC Direct SwiftBroadband service please click here.