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Monthly Archives: April 2013

As Market for In-flight Wifi Grows, the Debate Continues

April 10, 2013
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The in-flight wifi debate continued last week as service providers all have a different approach to bandwidth.

Bill Sullivan, Director for Strategy and Business Development at ViaSat, commented, “People value speed, whether at home or in mobile environment. We have built a system around a very high speed experience. So we are taking that and bringing it into the airline sector.”

However, not everyone agrees that speed is the answer, especially when in-flight wifi provision is so expensive.  Row 44’s John Guidon argues,

“Just talking about speed is not satisfactory. It doesn’t explain the totality of the experience,” adding, “Really people are most interested in, in my opinion, page load time.”

There is no doubt that connectivity for in-flight wifi is in demand.  It is not a question of whether aircraft need it; it is now an account of which service to choose.  Ka-band wifi will provide speeds of at least 12Mbps per passenger, with even faster speeds being achieved with Ku-band or satellite in-flight wifi operations.

Most airlines recognise passengers’ growing demands for in-flight wifi and with the buzz created by the different broadband connectivity providers, the market is exploding.

Flights Resumed After Jet2 Agree to Use Alternative Runways

April 9, 2013
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Flights Resumed After Jet2 Agree to Use Alternative RunwaysThe airline Jet2 suspended flight operations from Belfast International Airport for two days, following concerns over the delay of maintenance issues on the main runway, due to the recent bad weather.  Jet2 had reported engine-related problems on three occasions, but there was no evidence to suggest it was related to the runway.

Despite assurances from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Jet2 switched flights to George Best Belfast City Airport and City of Derry Airport instead.

Belfast International Airport agreed to investigate their concerns, but Jet2 was the only airline to suspend flights or report any issues.

The company apologised, saying, “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience this has caused, however the safety of our customers is of paramount importance and we will not operate from Belfast International Airport’s main runway until the resurfacing has finished.”

Jet2 agreed to resume flights, using the airports’ alternative runway two days later.

They issued a statement that said, “This decision follows close consultation with the airport and a detailed safety assessment conducted today (Tuesday).  All our customers due to travel from Belfast International this week should go to the airport as normal.

WSI Follow ARINC with the Development of New iPad App

April 8, 2013
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Following the success of ARINC’s development and introduction of their ground-breaking flight planning app for the iPad, yet another contender enter into the marketplace.  WSI are the latest company to launch a weather and flight planning app.

Named WSI Pilotbrief, the General Aviation and Flight Planning app is iPad specific and is set for launch at the Sun N Fun annual event in Florida this year.

ARINC developed their industry-leading iPad application for ARINC Direct after figures showed that more than half of their business jet aviators were accessing their accounts using the tablet device.

A valuable tool, the app integrates into the flight planning process, assisting pilots and increasing efficiency for effective, real-time operations.  Using the flight planning app, pilots are able to access up-to-the-minute weather data and geographical information, in addition to fuel burn data, ETA and flight tracking with sharing capabilities via iCloud networks and Bluetooth connections.

Pilots Asleep in the Cockpit Over London

April 7, 2013
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Pilots Asleep in the Cockpit Over LondonShould the public be concerned about the occurrence of Pilots falling asleep ‘at the wheel’?

Not according the the CAA, who say, “The evidence the CAA has is that the fatigue of crew is not a significant safety concern.”

This follows the release of data after a request to the CAA for ‘Freedom of Information’ revealed that pilots had dozed off during flights over London in June 2010 and June 2011, one having to be shaken awake after a colleague was locked out of the cockpit.

Pilots blame long hours and fatigue caused by unrealistic rostering, which is set to grow worse if the proposed change in European law is passed, expecting them to work extra hours and extend overnight flying.

Dr Hunter, head of flight safety at Balpa said, “A pilot falls asleep on the flight deck on a UK-registered airplane at least once in every 24 hours – and probably a lot more than that.”

This alarming statement is not backed up by figures, but with a two year prison sentence attached to falling asleep in the cockpit, Dr Hunter estimated that pilots would rarely report themselves, as they would be “writing the evidence for their own prosecution”.

Nuclear Security – Africa and the IAEA

April 6, 2013
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recognise the important roles that non-nuclear weapon states, such as those in Africa are playing in shaping and enhancing nuclear security, in spite of development challenges that they face and rising economic issues.

At the forthcoming, and probably penultimate, Nuclear Security Conference in July this year, with the last of three summits planned in the Netherlands in 2014, the IAEA hosts will have a chance to strengthen its corroborative role with states to enhance their capacity for nuclear security and will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to have their say, proving input into the agency’s Nuclear Security Plan for 2014-17.

This is good news for African states in particular, as they have had little chance to participate in global nuclear security debates as the international community continually search for a channel in which to encourage the nuclear security agenda forum in a more fundamentally inclusive way.

Hawaiian Airlines Claim Five Minute Check-in with New Self-Tagging System

April 5, 2013
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Passenger ProcessingStarting with Honolulu Airport, Hawaii say they are the first in the U.S. to move to completely automated self-baggage tagging with their new multi-airline check in kiosks.

Provided that Hawaiian passengers have self-printed boarding passes, they will be able to weigh, tag and check-in their baggage, leaving airport staff more time to assist passengers with oversized baggage or those with special needs.  This system will greatly reduce waiting time and streamline airport operations.

“Every minute saved in the check-in process improves our customers’ experience substantially, so this is a significant enhancement,” said Hawaiian’s Vice President for Customer Service Louis Saint-Cyr. “The kiosks reduced our customers’ check-in time to eight minutes. The ability to self-tag bags reduces the check-in time even further — by nearly half.”

There is a range of multi-airline check-in services out there, including the ARINC solution, vMUSE, and offering multi-airline check-in and bag drop facilities within an integrated suite of applications.  The vMUSE option maximises airport operations, eliminates the necessity for costly upgrades and gives smaller airports the flexibility of utilizing precious counter space.

ARINC offer interoperability with vMUSE solutions, using existing CUTE systems technology, allowing seamless operations for multi-airline check-in, self-printed boarding passes and bag drop facilities from an industry-leading, reliable provider.

ARINC AviNet Chosen by Seal Dynamics for Type B Messaging

April 4, 2013
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Seal Dynamics, a division of Heico Aerospace will use ARINC’s AviNet mail from now on for all their critical Type B messages.

Seal Dynamics stock, manufacture and sell millions of components for the aviation industry, processing hundreds of orders each day.

It is important for them to ensure highly reliable and fast communication of these orders, often consisting of urgent replacement parts from their diverse range of products, to minimize delays or ground-time for their aviation partners – a costly exercise.

ARINC are world-leaders in communications solutions, serving hundreds of aviation businesses and handling millions of critical Type B messages every day.  AviNet mail is capable of delivering mission-critical Type B messages within one second and is the most reliable in the industry.

Type B messaging is used by aviation companies to deliver global mission-critical communications for a number of reasons, such as replacement aircraft components, weather data, flight planning and passenger reservations.

“We chose ARINC’s AviNet Mail because it provides us with high message reliability, ease-of-use, accessible support, alternative methods for accessing Spec2000 messages and on-demand traffic analysis,” said Vice President of Technology at Seal Dynamics, Marc Alter.

Yun Chong, ARINC Vice President of Global Network and IT Solutions, said “ARINC values the opportunity to serve a recognized market leader and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”

WINGX Reports Fall in Business Aviation Figures

April 4, 2013
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It was recently reported in the latest release of the Wingx Business Aviation Monitor that business aircraft flight departures fell by 10% in Europe over the past year.  The figures reflect a major decrease over the year, mostly due to March 2012’s strong figures, as March 2013 showed 20% more activity than February 2013.

The Euro Zone financial crisis has been blamed for the major decrease, as there were increases in flights from the Middle East, BRIC countries and East and West Africa.

Christoph Kohler, Managing Director of WINGX Advance, said, “March analysis indicates a slump which was certainly precipitated by further Euro Zone tensions, especially affecting demand in Germany. The overall picture is gloomy, but there is growth, in selective aircraft types and on specific routes.”

Growth was recorded, however, in the Russian Federation, Norway, Turkey and the Ukraine with a couple of activity spikes in Malta and Cyprus.  The relatively small business aviation market associated with Ireland also saw an increase.

Piston activity was badly hit, being 27% down over the year, business aviation charter activity coming down by 6% compared to March 2012.

This comes as business aviation services become more affordable to the sector and surprisingly the largest drops were felt by smaller aircraft, such as Cessna, Beechcraft and Piper aircraft, while the industry experienced a rise in usage of Ultra-long range, Bizliner and Heavy Jets.

ARINC Continues to Lead the Industry with Support on CPDLC

April 2, 2013
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ARINC with their development of ACARS in the 1970’s are well-known in the aviation industry and the clear choice when looking for support with CPDLC solutions.

Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), having responsibility for a large number of aircraft in wide ranging airspace, require different support to individual airlines for obvious reasons.  ARINC’s services are in high demand in this area.

Controller Pilot Datalink communications (CPDLC) with Air Traffic Control (ATC) via VHF datalink Mode 2 (VDLM2) is set to replace ACARS messaging in the future, and ARINC will be advising airlines on their specifications for equipping, upgrading or retrofitting to enable use of CPDLC by February 2015.

ARINC already works with ANSPs across Europe – NATS (UK), DFS (Germany) and Skyguide (Switzerland) to ensure they implement the links by the end of this year.

Yanko Videv, ARINC EMEA Aviation Solutions datalink program manager said that they aim to engage with ANSPs “In the early stages of their requirement definition, to facilitate a smoother transition to CPDLC.”

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) want to see a universal worldwide standard for datalink communications based upon ICAO Aeronautical Telecommunications Network standards, with voice communications used as a back-up.

Although the U.S. will not use the same system as Europe, for now, the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) standards will continue to be accepted in VDLM2 regulated airspace, under exemption, until harmonization occurs.