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Gulfstream G280 given Green Light from Europe

February 22, 2013
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Gulfstream

Gulfstream

European validation for the Gulfstream G280 business jet after Israel and the USA certificated the super-midsize aircraft. The G280 was introduced in 2008 as a replacement for the G200 is a 10-seat aircraft manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv and completed at Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, USA. Gulfstream delivered 17 midsize-category jets – including the G280’s smaller stablemate the G150 – during 2012. This tally is expected to climb to 26 in 2013.

Mark Burns, Gulfstream president for product support said “The 250h internal testing programme – among the most extensive voluntary reliability programmes ever implemented by Gulfstream – incorporates pilot check rides, maintenance on auxiliary power units, engine run qualifications, technical operations, publications validations and basic servicing and handling at typical fixed-base operators.”

Gulfstream’s G280 business jet has recently set 15 new city-pair speed records as part of a company-driven programme to demonstrate the reliability of the super-midsize aircraft, the most significant from Aspen, Colorado, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and another from Honolulu to Savannah.

The G280 flew the 3,034km (1,640nm) from Aspen-Pitkin County airport to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport in 3h 21min, at an average speed of Mach 0.84. The G280 also achieved a flight of 7,630km from Honolulu to Savannah in 8h 19 min, at an average speed of Mach 0.80. Certificated by the US National Aeronautic Association and forwarded to the Switzerland-based Fédération Aéronautique Internationale for ratification as world records.

ARINC’s Passenger Processing Systems continue at MUC

February 20, 2013
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ARINC will continue to provide and maintain the adaptable vMUSE™ platform for the Common Use Passenger Processing Systems (CUPPS). The long term relationship of ARINC and Munich began in 2003 and now to continue with ARINC’s CUPPS solution in MUC Terminal 2 until December 2014.

“We are impressed with the ARINC vMUSE platform and the support we have received over our long partnership. The ARINC team has regularly exceeded our agreed upon benchmarks and SLAs.” Said Marco Butz, Manager Technology and Infrastructure at Munich airport.

ARINC will continue to provide the premium on-site service and a centralized state-of-the-art firewall solution is due to follow during 2013. Tony Chapman ARINC Senior Director, Integrated Travel Solutions commented “We are delighted to continue working with one of our long-standing and valued customers, as we believe it reflects both the quality of our service and commitment to the highest standards of performance,” he continued “Munich Airport is focused on providing the best possible services for its customers, and ARINC’s technology helps make that achievable.”

AirClub the World’s first charter alliance

February 15, 2013
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Thought to be the first cooperation between business operators, 8 Europe major business air charter companies have joined together to form a strategic alliance under the name of AirClub.

Christian Hatje, svp business aviation of PrivatAir and chairman of AirClub, says: “History has been made. AirClub is the first ever alliance of business jet operators and will operate more than 100 business jets. We will combine the strength, purchasing power and expertise of some of Europe’s leading players within the industry to provide clients with premium service, top aircraft availability and flexibility as well as the highest possible standard of safety and comfort.

Founding members ACM Air Charter, Air Alsie, Air Hamburg, Corporatejets, FlyingGroup, GlobeAir, Masterjet and PrivatAir aim to offer their customers flexibility and increase customer service. Based in seven different countries, AirClub will gather resources and knowledge, providing a wider range of solutions and tailored approaches to customers’ needs.

“We will strive to launch our own AirClub online booking system, allowing customers to choose from a vast, diversified fleet located all over Europe, as well as a special member’s programme to complement the latter early next year. Booking a private jet through our online system will be as easy as renting a car.” Continued Hatie.

“GlobeAir is very proud to be a part of the first, and so far only, corporate jet alliance. We are always looking for ways to upgrade our customer service and partnering with other operators offers our customers the benefit of an extended fleet. Said Mauro de Rosa, chief marketing officer Europe at GlobeAir AG and deputy chairman of AirClub, “AirClub is an absolute milestone in today’s business aviation and we are convinced it will further enhance our standing as an industry.”

FAA Issues Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (AJF&E) for the COE

February 10, 2013
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) intends to establish an Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (AJF&E). Joining with leading university members and award matching grants to establish, operate and conduct research on alternative jet fuels and environmental matters. The FAA plan to create a cost sharing partnership between academic, industry, and government focusing on the aviation environmental and issues relating to alternative jet fuels.

After a public meeting held on November 15th and 16th 2012 with the FAA COE Program Office and the Office of Environment and Energy discussed the technical requirements, the COE legislative mandates and the competitive selection process. This Final Solicitation follows incorporating the public comments received.

ARINC’s AIM selected for Zion Nuclear Power Station Project

February 7, 2013
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ARINC was selected by EnergySolutions for the Zion Nuclear Power Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Project. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, Zion Nuclear Power Station is in the process of being decommissioned, and is the first Exelon Corporation installation that will use the AIM solution.

Patrick Daly, General Manager, Zion Nuclear Power Station said “We are pleased to partner with ARINC on this phase of the project to provide state of the art security and surveillance for the ISFSI structure,”

The Advanced Information Management (AIM®) SCS platform is compliant with CFR regulations as mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ARINC will provide its software for the Security Computers System (SCS) as the primary command and control platform for monitoring and control of Zion’s ISFSI facility.

Frank Koren, Product Director of ARINC Security Systems. “Our AIM SCS technology is widely used for security command and control applications at over forty (42) nuclear plants throughout the US and Canada. ”ARINC’s AIM SCS solution will provide the value, stability and performance Zion requires, now and in the future.”

Air Astana Renews ARINC’s Type B Messaging & AviNet Airport Service

February 5, 2013
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Type B Messaging Services

Type B Messaging Services

Kazakhstan’s national airline, Air Astana, have renewed and extended its contract for ARINC’s Type B Messaging and AviNet Airport service. ARINC will now provide a complete connectivity and messaging platform for the airline’s airport applications. The first carrier from Russia, Eastern Europe  Kazakhstan’s national airline, Air Astana was recently awarded the prestigious 4-star rating, Skytrax World Airline Awards and named ‘Best Airline in South and Central Asia’.

“As Central Asia’s leading carrier, Air Astana recognises the critical role that connectivity plays in maintaining the very highest standards of operational efficiency and service. ARINC has proved to be an outstandingly reliable and responsive partner in the provision of advanced airline IT solutions over many years and I’m delighted to be renewing and extending the scope of our agreement,” said Chamindra Lenawa, vice president IT and E-business, Air Astana JSC.

ARINC’s market-leading AviNet Messaging is an intuitive solution that uses the internet to provide low cost access to IATA Type B Messaging from anywhere in the world from any computer. Together with ARINC’s extremely resilient network, this meets the air transport industry’s need for high-performance messaging and networking, with the core network operating at 99.999% availability. Integrated with ARINC’s MUSE platform, AviNet Airport provide a fully managed reliable service for Air Astana, the service usually be in operational within 10 working days from the date of order, has an attractive Service Level Agreements (SLAs), pricing, and support.

For more information on ARINCs Type B Messaging Service please visit the ARINC AviNet site.

5 Extra A330 passenger aircraft for Turkish Airlines ordered

February 4, 2013
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A330 passenger aircraft ordered

A330 passenger aircraft ordered

Turkish Airlines has signed a firm order for two additional A330-300 passenger aircraft to be deployed on medium and long haul routes from the Turkish Airlines hub in Istanbul. An additional three options as part of the carrier’s continued growth plans, takes their total orders to 38. With the initial order in 1984, Turkish Airlines now operate in total 104 Airbus

Dr Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines said “As one of the fastest growing airlines, our strategy of growth needs to be fully supported by efficient, reliable and profitable aircraft” he continued “This new order for A330s reinforces our commitment to a family of aircraft which already helps us to achieve our ambitious expansion plans, in a profitable and sustainable manner”

The A330 is one of the world’s most efficient aircraft with best in class operating economics. With numerous ongoing product improvements, it still remains the most cost-efficient and capable aircraft, averaging dispatch reliability well above 99 percentThe A330 having 250 to 300 seats, includes Freighter, VIP, and Military Transport/Tanker variants, has now attracted more than 1,200 orders, with over 900 aircraft flying with close to 100 operators worldwide.

Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. John Leahy said “We are very proud to win a repeat order from Turkish Airlines as it shows without doubt a strong endorsement for the A330 unique combination of unbeatable economics, versatility and fuel efficiency,”  “In response to the continuing strong demand, we’re making the A330 better and better, with new higher weight variants to offer more payload-range capability while keeping reliability at top level.”

Airbus aircraft share a unique cockpit and operational commonality, allowing airlines to use the same pool of pilots, cabin crews and maintenance engineers, bringing operational flexibility and resulting in significant cost savings.

ARINCs Passenger Processing Systems at Brussels Airport

February 2, 2013
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Brussels Airport Passenger Processing

Brussels Airport Passenger Processing

ARINC announced that it has installed the new Passenger Processing System, with on-site maintenance and support at Brussels Airport in Belgium. ARINC installed its CUPPS-compliant vMUSE common use solution on nearly 500 workstations. ARINC’s AviNet global networking solution has also been fitted at the airport providing a secure WAN connectivity to the airlines’ host systems.

CUTE & Telecommunications Service Manager at Brussels Airport, Pierre Gehrenbeck Said “ARINC’s proven history of successfully migrating major airport sites to common-use passenger processing systems was a key factor in our selection decision. In addition, the efficient and cost-effective program is fully scalable to our airport and can be easily adapted to fit our projected growth”.

ARINC’s vMUSE platform maximizes the use of airport infrastructure through shared workstations, reducing the need for complex and expensive hardware systems, and a cost saving and rapid process. Supporting whichever application an airline has, the open design of vMUSE incorporates an easy integration with airline technology requirements.

Airport Customer Service – the Future

January 25, 2013
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Airports know the importance of delivering the best possible for customers travelling through the terminals. The effort to improve customer’s time waiting for their flight has improved during the last few years with gourmet eateries, cell phone charging stations, higher-end facilities, a wide variety of in-airport activities and other plans to upgrades.

When flying, many negative customer experiences are created because of unforeseen delays, mechanical issues, weather problems, etc. These annoyances can create delays of minutes or even hours, and in the worst case scenario cancelled. It is however, possible for these delays to decrease even further, with airlines and airports having the right technology. An iPad-based technology allows cabin crew to manage all reporting and manuals digitally, seeing and addressing unforeseen problems much earlier.

There are polls and articles dedicated to comparing the best and worst airports assisting customers and these new technologies will be a huge benefit in improving customer satisfaction and pre-flight experience, as well as improving a given airport’s reputation.

As well as improving reporting processes, iPad-based technology offers a more effective way to handle customer service issues. Aviation CRM systems are becoming more user-friendly and will be accessible via iPad systems. These CRM systems make it easier for both in-flight crew and airport staff to access customer information, process sales and address customer service issues. Currently airline crews can access corporate memos, manage internal communications, access flight data, up-to-date weather info, etc. while in-flight, from a single device. In the future, airline crews in the airport will be able to handle customer check-in, checking baggage, selling tickets, anywhere, anytime from a single, handheld device.

LEA increases fleet with Challenger 300

January 24, 2013
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One of Europe’s largest business jet charter operators London Executive Aviation (LEA), based at London Luton Airport, is continuing with expansion by adding another Bombardier Challenger 300 to its fleet.

London Executive Aviation (LEA)

London Executive Aviation (LEA)

“The addition of this Bombardier Challenger 300 to our fleet highlights our dedication to offering the broadest range of aircraft options for business charter operations. We have now amassed considerable experience of operating this type and have been very pleased with its dispatch reliability. The aircraft fully meets passenger expectations for cabin comfort and space, and we have received consistently positive customer feedback” said LEA’s managing director George Galanopoulos. He continued, “Our Challenger 300s fill a niche in our fleet between the midsize Citation Excel and large cabin Embraer Legacys. Their impressive range, coupled with their modern, spacious cabins, makes these aircraft an extremely popular choice.”

The super midsize Challenger 300 has a 3,600 mile range and can operate from runways as short as 1,300 metres. Capable of making non-stop flights from London to destinations such as Moscow, Jeddah, Lagos and Dubai, it can seat up to ten passengers as well as the crew and a stewardess. It is a technologically advanced, high-performance business jet with intercontinental range. It features ‘fly by wire’ avionics, highly efficient Honeywell HTF7000 engines and a state-of-the-art cabin entertainment system.