Airport Security Sector still Expected to Soar

March 19, 2013
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Although US budget cutbacks effects air traffic control the airport security sector is still expected to grow, and terrorism is still a threat, analysts have said.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks screening passengers and surveillance at airports has boomed. Because airport security is one of the areas that has been hit in the US by budget cuts, the expected growth on air travel will mean an increase in spending on airport security.

Didier Brechemier, an expert at the Roland Berger consultancy said “Airport security is a market niche which is outperforming that of the aviation. It grows along with the volume of passengers which is growing itself by five to six percent per year.”

3 billion passengers will travel by air this year according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), this is nearly double the amount of people that flew in 2001. IATA also expects this number to double by 2030.

According to Philippe Nguyen, president of the IPE Investment Fund “The airport security screening market is worth some $10 billion (8 billion euros) annually” The Visiongain business information service said “If physical security at and around airports is included the market is worth over $22 billion”

Visiongain has noted that national governments are increasing spending on developing new airport facilities and expanding existing ones to meet increasing air travel, with spending on enhancing security also rising. Visiongain said “Contract sizes and financial data released by companies involved in the industry indicate this and would suggest that the market will continue to expand”

Europe and the US have the largest airport security markets while the Asia Pacific region is on course for the largest growth in the aviation sector.

In the next 10 years China is expected to construct 70 new airports.

Other boosts for security companies include changing the restrictions on carrying on board planes certain items, and the change of the rules of liquids should also boost this sector.

At a recent security conference IATA chief Tony Tyler said “that a right balance needs to be struck between risk and regulation. If we don’t find the right balance soon we will lose the goodwill of our passengers and shippers, clog our airports, slow world trade, and bring down the level of security that we have worked so hard to build-up”

Plenty of commercial opportunities are expected as growth will rest on new technologies. Better target screening is expected by use of information on travellers available to border control agencies will rely heavily on technology and data gathering. Many companies are now offering a full suite of airport security and passenger processing solutions.

India Hands Over APIS

March 17, 2013
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India has handed over an advanced passenger information system to the Maldives.

The Maldives biggest source of revenue is from tourism and the authorities there have been handed an Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) providing a safe and efficient immigration service to travellers.

The system was installed at the Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport and according to authorities marks a ‘giant step’ for the country to provide a much better service to travellers.

The APIS will give the Border Control System advanced information about people travelling to and from the country. The population of the Maldives is about 350 000 and has around 1 million visitors per year.

Dnyaneshwar M Mulay the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives handed over the APIS to Maldives’ Controller of Immigration & Emigration Mohamed Ali.

For more information on APIS please see this link.

Avfuel FBO’s make History

March 16, 2013
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The installation of the world’s first GE H80 800 HP fuel-efficient engine in a King Air C90 has caused much excitement in Nashville, as Drumm and Lakeshore Aviation teamed up with Avfuel Fixed-base Operator (FBO) Smyrna Air Center.

‘Having flown King Airs for years, I’m excited to see this program take off,’ said Greg Ryan, GE Aviation Sales Director.

The impeccably restored King Air C90 is latest addition to the Lakeshore Aviation charter fleet and features the new engine, developed by GE Aviation following their acquisition of Czech-based Walters Company.  The H80 is a combination of the Walters’ M601 engine and GE’s 3D wizardry to produce a more powerful, durable engine with the all-important advanced fuel efficiency.

‘We’re seeing faster speeds, yet we’re burning less fuel.  The extended service live of 3.600 flight hours between overhauls will result in a significant reduction in maintenance costs,’ said Curt Drumm, President of Lakeshore Aviation, commercial rated pilot and the organization’s charter captain. ‘This is GE’s first engine for being used on business turboprop aircraft and the improvements it brings to the turboprop flying experience are incredible. Pilots love it because it’s just fun to fly.’

ARINC Successful Bid to Provide Nuclear Security

March 15, 2013
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Infrastructure Security

Infrastructure Security

ARINC has, for more than 20 years, provided essential, industry-leading nuclear security solutions to the U.S. nuclear power industry.  Using its innovative command, surveillance, control and communications technologies, ARINC furnishes the industry with reliable protection and performs systems integration functions.

Energy Solutions Inc is the latest addition to the company’s respected customer family.  Based in Salt Lake City, Energy Solutions Inc is responsible for the decommissioning project in Illinois over then next ten years.  ARINC have been successful in their bid to provide nuclear security and information management software.

The Advanced Information Management System will be seamlessly integrated by ARINC’s Security Solutions Project Team, with the existing security system of the (spent) nuclear fuel silo, constructed for the Zion Nuclear Power Station by Energy Solutions Inc.

Frank Koren, ARINC product director of security systems said, ‘We are excited to work with Energy Solutions on this important project.  Our AIM SCS technology is widely used for security command and control applications at over 42 nuclear plants throughout the U.S. and Canada.’

In fact, ARINC’s proven nuclear security system solutions are used in 50% of all the nuclear power plants in North America to date.

ARNIC Direct close to switching on Connect Service

March 14, 2013
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Connect - providing airborne communications addressing and reporting system

Connect – providing airborne communications addressing and reporting system

ARINS Direct hope to launch its Connect low-cost business aviation communication service before the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention this October in Las Vegas. They have just a few regulatory hurdles and technical issues to resolve.

Designed to provide airborne communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) messaging via an Apple iPad application, the service is the future of ACARS’s communications traditionally provided by the like of the ARINC AviNet service.

James Hardie ARINC Direct director said “We were looking at having the box ready for the second quarter of this year, but we’re a little bit behind with some of the things we’ve had to do to refine things, We’re very confident that by NBAA we’ll be in full production offering it up to customers, and in between we’ll be looking to do some trials as well”

“Connect” currently is only a working title for the product and fresh branding will be announced at the EBASE show in May.

At the 2012 NBAA convention the product was announced and a pre-production version will be available for demonstration at the EBASE show.

James Hardie added  “It is designed to provide airborne communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) messaging via an Apple iPad application, high quality voice communications using an iPhone or Android device, and email. We’re looking to enable connectivity into new markets and also into existing markets with this box. If they’ve got an Iridium phone system then this box can take the place of some of that, using the antenna infrastructure. We’ve had an awful lot of interest from all sorts of operators, from medevac to charter. They might buy this equipment and put it on board a charter aircraft that they are managing for another individual.”

Connect is also being offered as a low-cost enabler for on-board services. “We think there’s an opportunity there to enable across a much wider range of aircraft because of technological developments in terms of miniaturisation of equipment and better understanding of interference issues, a lot of those issues that were around at the top of people’s agendas a few years ago are very much resolved. The next iteration will be looking at developing a user interface for the data link in the cockpit, which would be done through the iPad and connecting to the Arinc Direct box.”

James Hardie added the Connect iPad app is “essentially an electronic flight bag providing a paperless cockpit capability”.

At the request of their customer various new features have been added including “Cloud” connectivity for continuous synchronisation.

Carrying on James hardie said “If you write something down on your iPad it’s appearing on the co-pilot’s iPad, and as long as the aircraft has got a connection to the ground then we can provide data back to our cloud servers. They’ll store that information so if there are any problems with it, it can be regenerated and the content of your flight plan is accessible in flight and after the flight by everybody.”

Other  features to be included shortly include ad hoc flight planning within the app, as well as “just before flight” activities such as weight and balance sign-off.

EEC Agree to Ka-band Switch for Improved Satellite Broadband

March 13, 2013
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It has recently been announced that the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) has agreed to a key decision, regarding the use of Earth Stations On Mobile Platforms (ESOMPs), which will enable significant improvements to satellite broadband services for planes, trains and ships.

The changes and improvements should come within weeks of this announcement, following the identification by the EEC, of the technical and operational requirements for the use of ESOMPs in the geostationary satellite networks over certain parts of the ‘Ka-band’, ensuring existing fixed satellite and service networks are protected from interference.

Ka-band satellites use small spot beams which will lead to increased spectrum efficiency, allowing the use of smaller terminal antennae that can be mounted cost-effectively, to aircraft, ships or mobile land vehicles.  The use of such ESOMPs will provide increased spectrum efficiency and more capacity than existing mobile systems in the Ku-band range.

Ryanair to acquire 175 new Boeing 737-800s

March 12, 2013
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Ryanair has agreed to acquire 175 Boeing 737-800s with a list price of $15.6 billion. The deal yet to be finalised with take Ryanair’s and approved by its shareholders will take the fleet to over 400 aircraft in 2018. This deal is thought to be the largest ever aircraft order by a European carrier.

CFM International CFM56 engines will power the 737-800s and 75 of the new aircraft will replace part of the current fleet of 305-737s. The other 105 aircraft will allow for Ryanair to grow. The re-engined 737 Max due to enter service in 2017 is still being evaluated by Ryanair.

LTE-based Data Communications Not Accessible for Mission Critical Communications until 2018

March 11, 2013
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It has been announced that LTE-based data communications, despite the on-going development of LTE consumer networks, will not be accessible for mission critical communications until 2018, according to Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG).

It is not until 2020 that mission critical users can expect reasonable quality voice services using Long-Term Evolution technology.

Data-only LTE services are commercially operational, but consumer based voice LTE solutions are a long way off yet.

According to Phil Kidner, Chief Executive Officer of the TETRA & Critical Communications Association (TCCA) ‘Achieving industry synergy is crucial to ensure uninterrupted availability of mission-critical communications services. LTE is currently designed for commercial use.  There is no viable replacement on the horizon for the current technologies employed by critical communications users.’

To provide a necessary footing for mission-critical communications, four key areas within LTE standards must be addressed, to ensure the moving-forward of the technology towards multimedia communications:

  • Group Communication System Enablers
  • Proximity-based Services
  • Public Safety Network Resiliency
  • Push-To-Talk (PTT)

The acceptance of GSCE and ProSe by 3GPP as WID’s that will be integrated into the planned Release 12 of 3GPP LTE specification in 2014 is notably a major breakthrough by the CCBG.

A weakness lies in the framework of Critical Networks Resilience in LTE design, being no provision for the accommodation of any potential loss of signal between the base station and the core communications network.  The hope is to include a solution in the planned Release 13 of 3GPP LTE in 2016.

Other mission critical data communications suppliers such as ARINC do offer a platform for communication needs suited to the military and government with simultaneous voice and data communications with optional guaranteed bandwidth for those high traffic critical services.

New Business Aviation Broadband Solution to be Launched by Inmarsat and Kymeta

March 10, 2013
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A agreement has been signed by Inmasat and Kymeta to develop a new satellite antenna that will enable business jets to use high speed broadband connectivity worldwide using Inmasat’s Global Xpress (GX) service

Only GX users will be able to use the propriety Kymeta Aero Antenna enabling the two company’s opportunities in the fast expanding business aviation market.

Managing Director of Inmarsat Global Xpress, Leo Mondale said, “Over the coming 10 years, some 10,000 new business jets are forecast to enter service. In this changing world, where enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of the business executive is paramount, the need to offer constant connectivity is non-negotiable. It is this absolute requirement to keep executives connected, wherever they are, that is driving demand for solutions which support smaller aircraft. Our partnership with satellite technology specialist, Kymeta, will make business jet travel an even smarter and more efficient option for executives”

CEO of Kymet, Vern Fotheringham added, “Our technology for flat-panel, beam-forming antennas will enable a number of new markets and a new generation of customers to benefit from lower cost, high-speed satellite internet connectivity anywhere in the world. We are excited to reach this milestone and engage with Inmarsat to bring next-generation broadband services into the global business aviation market.”

Inmarsat is a long standing player in the industry providing passenger communications solutions for both commercial airlines and business jets.

ATC Global Exhibition and Conference

March 9, 2013
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CPDLCThis year, at the ATC Global Exhibition and Conference in Amsterdam, advanced training solutions for ATC simulations were showcased in the shape of Adacel’s Aurora ATM system.

Elements of their Unified Training Solution (UTS) demonstrated the growing need for technological advancement, aiming to ‘Create the appropriate mix of tools to prevent bottlenecks that break the training continuum,’ and tailoring these solutions to meet the specific needs of the customer.

Adacel realise that high-definition ATC simulators are not enough to meet the expanding demands upon ATC training requirements and recognise that students need the appropriate tools at each specific stage of training, to ensure competency in every area, from terminology and communications through to advanced ATC skills required to become a competent controller with a firm and broad knowledge of complex technological advances in the industry.

Technology impresses upon the student the need for competency in ATM functionality for the effective control of air traffic in the areas of mixed and non-surveillance airspace.

Adacel’s Aurora ATM system demonstrates the latest technology, including automated conflict detection, 4D profile protection, dynamic airspace airspace allocation and controller pilot data link communications (CPDLC).

Award-winning training applications for operational ATM, speech recognition and advanced ATC simulations required for students today, to make them the competent operators of tomorrow.