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ARINC Direct Showcase Xplore at EBACE

May 22, 2013
Business Aviation News
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Last week in Geneva at EBACE, business aviation specialists, ARINC Direct took a step closer to a paperless cockpit with their latest innovation, Xplore, a new communications service, offering a four-in-one portable device – ACARS messaging, high-quality voice service, Blackberry email and SMS/Instant Messaging capable.

Xplore will use an iPad application for the user interface and will be user-friendly, adding the benefit of sychnronicity between two or more iPads with bluetooth technology.

ARINC Direct existing business jet-operating customers will notice that the ACARS functionality is completely interoperable with their ARINC Direct account.

“The system is so flexible and easy to use we are looking at a wider range of applications than just business jets for its use,” said ARINC director James Hardie.

ARINC Direct Xplore, using the Inmarsat and Iriudium satellite networks will enable global connectivity for the flight deck and passengers in a simple, single application.

Mr Hardie continued, “If pilots are equipped with SwiftBroadband and they use the iPad App, then they are benefitting from a dynamic aviation information platform which surpasses traditional methods of getting in flight data.”

ARINC Direct encouraged pre-ordering of their business jet innovation at EBACE and hope to complete certification to launch the live product later this year.

Xplore ACARS

ARINC Direct Xplore – ACARS

ARINC AviNet Chosen by Seal Dynamics for Type B Messaging

April 4, 2013
Business Aviation News
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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.”

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.

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.

Airlines Around the World Feeling The Squeeze

February 23, 2013
Business Aviation News
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This month we have heard another story of airline struggling to deal with costs. Chanchangi airline has said that high cost of aviation fuel in Nigeria is a huge setback for domestic airline operations.

Airlines now have to look at every aspect of their business in order to balance the books. There are lots of areas that you can make cut backs but using route optimisation as a part of flight planning is one, and getting a good deal on aviation messaging is another.

But even with these basics in place fuel remains crippling. Using a contract fuel supplier will help – but this year at the Avalon air show Australia showcased aviation biofuels as the roadmap for the future. More on that story later…

Australian aviation biofuels showcased at Avalon

Australian aviation biofuels showcased at Avalon – picture courtesy of ABC

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.

SITA enables seamless datalink in UK-Ireland

January 19, 2013
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UK and Irish airspace will shortly have a seamless data link service as a result of UK NATS and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) working together with SITA to deliver Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) services to the British and Irish area control centers.

The SITA service and systems support long haul and short haul versions of CPDLC. Long haul aircraft use a Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) version already implemented over the Atlantic Ocean. Aircraft with FANS systems will now use the SITA network and gateway to communicate with CPDLC systems in the UK and Ireland domestic centers.

Other providers of CPDLC have also hit the headlines recently, including ARINC who now offer a compliance service for airlines.

Military Communications Advances

January 18, 2013
Business Aviation News
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Russia sent three military communications satellites into orbit this month aboard a converted ballistic missile launched, marking the first space launch of 2013.

The Rockot launch vehicle lifted off at 1625 GMT on a two-hour mission to put three military communications satellites in an orbit 900 miles above Earth.

The Rockot is a modified two-stage missile built to deliver nuclear payloads to distant targets.

Mission Critical Military Communications

Mission Critical Military Communications

The mission was the first space launch of 2013, and it marked the first use of a Breeze upper stage since a similar vehicle ran into trouble during the launch of a Proton rocket in December.

The Proton rocket, which launches commercial communications satellites with the Breeze M upper stage variant, has been grounded since a Dec. 8 launch left Russia’s Yamal 402 spacecraft in the wrong orbit.

Military communications across the globe continue to advance and grow with providers such as ISR offering specialist services for the industry.

British Border Security Chiefs Failing to Carry Out Checks

November 22, 2012
Business Aviation News
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Border and aviation security has again hit the headlines as it has come to light that security checks have not been carried out by government officials on asylum seekers in the UK,

The process of border security is a complex one that in aviation starts with the transmission of advance passenger information and passenger name records (PNR).

Airlines are obligated to submit this information when travelling between certain countries and face tough fines if they don’t comply.

For airlines, both commercial and in the business aviation sector, there are multiple options for transmission of this data, one of which is a service provided by ARINC called AviSec. This offers a per flight or flat rate pricing structure, geared towards cost efficiency for airlines or business jets.

As border security continues to be of grave concern, and airlines continue to have tighter regulation imposed upon them, it seems that it is the officials that need to be monitored to complete the enforcement process beyond the airport.

Independent Chief Inspector John Vine, of Borders and Immigration said of the current process for asylum seekers already in the UK that many cases were archived with little attempt to trace the asylum seeker. He added: “Security checks on controlled archive cases had not been undertaken routinely or consistently since April 2011. This was unacceptable. Through the inefficiency and delay of the Agency, those who would otherwise have faced removal will have accrued rights to remain in the UK.”