Page 29 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2018 Online Magazine

Fresh Realisation the performance necessary to track existing STCs for Boeing 777, 767,
Airlines are increasingly waking up aircraft to within six nautical miles 757, 747 737 and MD11. The company
to the advantages of satLINK MAX. of precision.” In addition to precise is currently working on an STC for
Korean Air recently announced that aircraft tracking, Korean Airlines will the Airbus A330 and 321 Neo. “We
it had selected the system for its also add FANS and ATS Safety Voice have a dedicated team of STC design
fleet of 55 Boeing 737s. Installing the communications to its B737 aircraft. engineers.”. “When you are a cus-
system will help the carrier comply This will help the carrier receive tomer, you get onsite support from
with the new flight-tracking require- preferred flight routing as the North our installation engineers. We are
ments that have been mandated by Pacific flight control centers increas- also committed to lifelong technical
South Korea’s Office of Civil Aviation ingly adopt FANS flight management support for our products.” With much
(KOCA) and will take effect this year. communications systems. of the growth in the aviation industry
Installation has been completed on happening in Asia Pacific, Avionica
several aircraft; the carrier expects Higher Demand has been increasingly focusing on
to complete fleet-wide installation nother in the company’s the region. Its products have been
by the end of 2018. “Korean Air is growing list of customers installed on a number of airlines,
expected to save significantly on is Icelandair. The carrier including Cathay Pacific, Eastar Jet
its SATCOM operational cost with Aselected the satLINK MAX and Jeju Air. “We have more than
Iridium. “We know there are several aviONS onboard network server that 500 customers around the world,”
solutions available for aircraft track- includes avCM 4G cellular device says Rios. “We are growing in Asia.
ing with 15-minute or one-minute and quick access recorder (QAR) We are in talks right now with many
position reports as mandated by the download equipment for the 16 737 carriers who have expressed interest
KOCA starting next year, and our sat- Max that it has on order. “Selecting in our products. We are excited by the
LINK MAX is the most capable and Avionica’s aviONS system over potential of the market.”
cost effective of all the options,” says Boeing ONS will enable savings of
Segredo. about US$4 million in the next three
Being lightweight, installation of years,” says Rios. “We have more
the system is quick and simple, thus than 1,400 of our satLINK Iridium
significantly cutting aircraft time on SATCOM devices installed around
ground. The system complies with the world, mostly on Boeing 737 air-
the next-generation Iridium SATCOM craft,” Rios adds. “Although we are
and can successfully transfer current US-based, most of the installations
Avionica satLINK content to the new are outside the U.S. In fact, we have
737MAX aircraft being delivered to over 800 installations on the Boeing
the carrier with no wiring modifica- 737. GOL Airlines, Copa Airlines, and
tion. The satLINK MAX has a crucial flydubai are just a few of the custom-
advantage over existing HF Data ers who have outfitted their whole
link (HFDL) systems. “Industry flight fleet with our satLINK.” Avionica has
tracking recommendations require
position reporting every 15 minutes
in normal operations,” says Rios,
who joined the company as an engi-
neering intern in 2001. “However, in
abnormal operations, ICAO’s Global
Aeronautical Distress Safety System
(GADSS) includes Autonomous
Distress Tracking (ADT) recommen-
dations for up to one minute. This is a
requirement that existing HF Data link
(HFDL) systems are unable to meet
reliably. The satLINK MAX provides

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