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Transavia France Chooses TRAX M&E Solution

TRAX is extremely pleased to announce that Transavia France has selected the TRAX Maintenance and Engineering solution to manage their fleet. TRAX software ensures that Transavia’s maintenance and engineering work along with it’s technical records are in impeccable shape. Jose Almeida, President and CEO of TRAX USA Corp., stated, “Our goal is to provide Transavia France with an exceptional Maintenance and Engineering solution, We are confident that TRAX will help improve the new airline’s overall operations. We are delighted to be a part of Transavia France’s growth strategy and look forward to working with them in the years ahead.” Transavia France will be implementing with the soon to be released Trax Version 12 on a Cloud / SaaS environment using top-of-the-line hardware and world-wide enterprise-ready datacenters provided by Amazon Web Services.  This version includes over 20 modules to cater to every aspect of aircraft maintenance. TRAX Maintenance will be able to assist Transavia France in countless ways, from Material Management and Finance to Technical Records and Reliability. Transavia France will now have aircraft, inventory, and maintenance activity information integrated into one single system.

Sabre unveils sneak peek of new, next-generation travel agency platform featuring powerful data insights and merchandising capabilities

New Sabre Red Workspace promises to transform the way consultants and suppliers can work together to create personalized experiences for travelers



SOUTHLAKE, Texas, June 28 2016 – Travel technology leader Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) today gave travel consultants and suppliers across the airline, hotel, cruise and car rental industries a sneak peek at its game-changing Sabre Red Workspace. The software solution will harness the changes in the industry and provide both retailers and suppliers with a content rich marketplace, intelligent decision support tools and predictive data insights that enable agents and suppliers to more easily create personalized experiences for travelers.

Developed on Sabre’s merchandising platform providing access to its award-winning GDS, travel consultants around the world will benefit from a more intuitive way to book travel, while airlines, hotels and other industry suppliers are now empowered to market their brands in the same way they market in other channels.

The new solution was unveiled before hundreds of travel professionals and suppliers at Sabre’s Travel Technology Exchange (TTX) Conference in Miami, Florida, USA. The company will begin upgrading travel agency customers to the new solution in early 2017, after a limited pilot later this year.

“Data, analytics, personalization and mobile have been trending in the marketplace for some time and offer exciting opportunities for buyers and suppliers to meet changing traveler needs,” said Sean Menke, president of Sabre Travel Network.  “Travelers want more than an itinerary; they want to feel confident about their purchases and expect a trip built around choice. That’s why in addition to a superior user experience, our new Sabre Red Workspace provides travel consultants with data insights, relevant offers and price transparency. Data and analytics are critical assets to increase productivity and efficiency in the retail world, and our travel insight engine will help drive decision-making, revenue optimization and true personalization.”

Agents and suppliers who have been involved in the development of the innovative solution have helped drive the user interface of the new travel marketplace solution, combining the look and feel of a consumer-focused website with insights, tools and features that help drive more personalized offerings to sell travel more effectively.

“The new Sabre Red Workspace platform shows great strides towards incorporating the usability of either command language or graphical content in the way that the consultant wants to use it,” said Orest Rusynko, senior vice president IT for Flight Centre in the United States.

What’s New?

• The combination of data-driven booking trend information with intuitive design and a consumer-grade user interface, smart product differentiation for air extras and Branded Fares, and inspirational shopping are among the many new features enabling agents to deliver personalized experiences and invaluable consultancy to their customers.
• The new Sabre Red Workspace intelligent platform features innovative integration of Sabre Dev Studio APIs, to equip travel consultants with a unique Decision Support Bar providing market data and intelligence services for fare trend and range, travel seasonality and alternate airports. Just imagine if a travel consultant could advise on the best time to book to get the best price, predict the best days of travel, or even offer more options to choose from including alternate airports displayed in interactive maps. That’s travel consultancy at its best, with simplified comparison shopping to cleverly serve the specific needs of travelers.
• The user-friendly interface of the new end-to-end solution also integrates revenue maximization tools, including unique indicators that alert the travel consultants about opportunities to increase sales and commissions while offering differentiated options that cater to the traveler’s preferences. The enhanced product information, especially for air extras and Branded Fares, simplifies the shopping experience and reduces training times for newly hired travel consultants.

Value for Suppliers
The new Sabre Red Workspace is also an enhanced platform for suppliers. The Sabre platform features advanced merchandising capabilities with enhanced product information through images, video and more, enabling airlines, hotels and other travel providers to leverage the Sabre travel marketplace for an omni-channel marketing strategy. The graphically-rich workflow supports ancillary and branded fares sales, and enhanced hotel capabilities.


“Sabre Red Workspace was designed with both supplier and agent needs in mind. Suppliers can count on improved consistency across channels while agents can work wherever and however they want, moving seamlessly between command and graphical interfaces,” said Menke.

The new Sabre Red Workspace will provide a consistent user experience across multiple operating systems and devices, including desktop, Sabre Red Mobile for consultants while on-the-go, and Sabre Web Services powering the world’s leading online travel agencies. The new merchandising platform is an upgrade that proves continuous innovation to provide stability, speed and performance in travel commerce transactions.

Lufthansa launches internet connectivity on short- and medium-haul flights

27.06.16

Green light from EASA: Supplemental Type Certificate issued

In October of this year, the first Lufthansa short- and medium-haul aircraft will take off with broadband internet on board. Lufthansa’s entire A320 family fleet is expected to have the innovative technology installed by mid-2018. One key milestone has already been reached: Lufthansa Technik is the first MRO company in Europe to have received the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from EASA to install a Ka-band antenna on the A320 family, i.e. the A319, A320, and A321 models. The STC serves to verify that the modifications to the aircraft (hardware or software) conform to the design specifications stipulated by EASA. Said specifications ensure aircraft’s continued airworthiness.

The first aircraft was equipped with the technology in June. In the coming weeks, the onboard system will be tested for functionality and stability. Lufthansa passengers will likely be able to use the new internet service from October. Other airlines in the Lufthansa Group will follow at a later date.

The future service from Lufthansa and its technology partner Inmarsat is based on the latest broadband satellite technology (Ka-band) and offers seamless, reliable coverage on short- and medium-haul flights through Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network. Passengers will be able to access the internet using their own mobile devices via Wi-Fi. In addition to basic surfing and email, other more sophisticated applications will be possible, including video streaming. At a later date passengers will be able to use their cellphones for SMS and data transfer via their own mobile accounts.

With its many years of experience in the aircraft modification sector, Lufthansa Technik is responsible for installing all systems and components as well as for the works required to comply with aeronautical and statutory regulations. In Europe, this was the first successful installation involving the GX communications network and the Honeywell-designed Ka-band antenna. To install the system, electrical and structural modifications were required both inside and outside the aircraft cabin. All modifications were developed and approved by Lufthansa Technik’s licensed development unit. The installed components were integrated in the cabin infrastructure in such a way that they are virtually invisible for passengers and easy to operate by the cabin crew. The work can be completed in up to four days or during regular maintenance layovers.

Lufthansa Systems provides the required IT infrastructure onboard the aircraft. This includes network operations as well as the innovative FlyNet portal for passengers.

Lufthansa Systems and Lufthansa Technik have also established a long-term partnership with global satellite operator Inmarsat in order to offer a modern, multifunctional onboard IT platform with broadband internet access to the market. Both the Lufthansa Group as well as airlines around the world will benefit from this strong partnership through comprehensive services.

Lufthansa carried out the world’s first scheduled flight with broadband internet access on January 15, 2003. Despite its growing popularity among passengers, the technically reliable service had to be discontinued in 2006 because the Connexion by Boeing satellites ceased commercial operations. Since December 2010 Lufthansa has once again been the first airline to provide broadband internet access on intercontinental flights. Since June 2015 FlyNet has been available on all 107 long-haul aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet. Lufthansa operates the world’s largest internet-connected long-haul fleet.

Iberia signs up for ARMS® V2 applications for Operations & Crew Management

Mumbai, India; June 25, 2016 – Sheorey Digital Systems (SDS), is delighted to announce it’s signing up leading Spanish flag-carrier, Iberia.

Iberia, a member of International Airlines Group (IAG), has decided to go with ARMS® V2 (Aviation Resource Management System) Operations & Crew Management Software with the intent of replacing it’s legacy software applications with a completely integrated state-of-the-art application suite that reduces about ten myriad applications in current use, to just two core-applications!

ARMS® V2 – Flight Operations Sub-System (FOSS) & Crew Management Sub-System (CMSS) along with three state-of-the-art, decision support Optimizers, will be installed to address Iberia’s requirements of deploying an integrated platform, with the accompanying benefit of having these systems reside on a unified database.

Commenting on this outcome, MD & CEO of SDS, Vivek (Vicky) Sheorey said, “it is extremely gratifying for ARMS® to have been chosen by a pre-eminent European carrier such as Iberia and having come about after an exhaustive evaluation, we are all the more pleased for the confidence that Iberia has expressed in the systems capabilities. As Iberia successfully moves ahead with its Plan de Futuro (Plan for the Future), we firmly believe that an integrated system like ARMS®, with its fundamental premise of bringing about efficiency across the organization by helping manage disruptions better, will play an important role in providing impetus to this plan.”

Rapidly growing and evolving, ARMS® V2 already counts over 50 customers worldwide for its innovative capabilities as the only true integrated Aviation ERP in the market today, which seamlessly integrates all of the functional and operational areas of an airline/air-operator with a unified database.

Honeywell Aviaso presented at the EMEA Flight Ops IT Conference

June 20, 2016 – Honeywell Aviaso presented solutions and case studies at the EMEA Aircraft Commerce Flight Ops IT Conference in Amsterdam, June 14-15. The conference is the leading industry events for IT solutions to the aerospace industry with a focus on airline efficiency. Both maintenance and flight operation topics were covered.

Our team of aviation and IT experts met with over two dozen airlines discussing topics related to fuel efficiency. Some of the topics raised – identifying directs and reduced-engine taxi – resulted from discussing the Lufthansa case study.

During day two, Tom Duddeck, Fuel Efficiency Manager at Lufthansa, shared best practices and valuable insights in a special keynote presentation. Lufthansa’s fuel efficiency program based on Aviaso/Fuel Efficiency recently won the coveted Carbon Reduction award, given by the German Aviation Industry.

Last but not least, there were live demonstrations of Honeywell real-time weather application for EFBs, as well as material for datalink wind uplink service.

Meet the team

Honeywell Aviaso team with Tom Duddeck after his keynote presentation

From left to right: Aneta Petkova, Senior QA engineer; Tom Duddeck, Fuel Efficiency manager, Lufthansa; Iliya Maksimov, Pilot and Fuel Efficiency instructor; David Alvord, EMEA Technical Sales, Honeywell.

Gogo Teams Up With T-Mobile To Provide Free Hour Of In-Flight Wi-fi

Following the announcement that T-Mobile is providing expanded messaging options and a free hour of in-flight Wi-Fi to its customers, T-Mobile is now extending limited benefits to all passengers. This weekend only, everyone, including Verizon and AT&T customers, will be provided one free hour of in-flight Wi-Fi on domestic Gogo-equipped flights. Starting Friday June 24th anyone flying with a smartphone can connect for a free hour of Gogo, courtesy of T-Mobile. The offer ends Sunday, June 26th at 11:00 pm ET.

Ramco Systems enters Philippines

Sets up a subsidiary to address the impending market opportunity in the region; To focus on Cloud HR & Global Payroll and Logistics Software


Manila, Philippines/ Chennai, India – June 22, 2016 – Triggered by the success seen with the winning of 5 new clients in the last few quarters, Ramco Systems, a leading enterprise software provider on Cloud, Mobile and Tablets, has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Philippines under the name Ramco System Inc.

As the second largest populated nation in ASEAN, Philippines has been witnessing the fastest economic growth among the ASEAN countries. To better address the market opportunity arising in Philippines, Ramco Systems has set up an office, its fourth in the region and 21st, globally. Ramco’s new office will employ local innovators, at a time when the Philippines IT sector moves beyond business process outsourcing – a pillar of economic growth in recent years – to include implementation of cloud-based technology to transform local enterprises in the area of ERP, HR, Payroll, Aviation and Logistics.

Commenting on the expansion, P R Venketrama Raja, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Ramco Systems, said, “A buoyant economy and drive to embrace disruptive technologies is driving enterprises in Philippines to invest in latest technologies. We are opening an office in Manila to enable local enterprises to leapfrog to cloud technology and derive significant business benefits. Given the excellent technical manpower in Philippines – it will also serve as a base for addressing our clients in the ASEAN region. With focus on innovation and cloud, we look forward to becoming the region’s most favored cloud enterprise software provider.”

With Singapore as the regional headquarters, and offices in Malaysia and Hong Kong, Ramco Systems in ASEAN has seen a steady growth for all three product offerings – ERP, HCM and Aviation MRO. For the year ended March 31, 2016, Asia Pacific (including ANZ) contributed 29% to the overall revenue. The company recently set up an ‘Innovation Lab’ in Singapore funded by the Singapore Government with anchor partner Air France Industries & KLM Engineering (AFIKLM). While Innovative offerings get tested in Singapore, Ramco in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) has transformed itself into an R&D and support hub for HR & Global Payroll requirements.

Arconics Customer Focus – Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific has selected Arconics AeroDocs for installation on all connected aircraft. The best-in-class digital library will be available on Class 3 EFBs on the flight deck and will be used to deliver documents and manuals into the Airbus A350 paperless cockpit.

AeroDocs enables pilots to access and search manuals and documents, allowing fast search, real-time updating, and offline access. Cathay Pacific administrators on the ground get real-time visibility and control of the distribution process, ensuring that all aircraft are updated and that all pilots have access to the current version of documents. Arconics will also integrate AeroDocs into existing Cathay Pacific systems to minimise the operational overhead and assure consistency across all systems.

Cathay Pacific is the international flag carrier airline of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline’s operations include scheduled passenger and cargo services to 168 destinations in 42 countries worldwide, codeshares, and joint ventures, with a fleet of wide-body aircraft, consisting of Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 equipment.  Its wholly owned subsidiary, Dragonair, operates to 44 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region from its Hong Kong base. In 2010, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.8 million tonnes of cargo and mail. Cathay Pacific has a fleet of 120 all wide-body aircraft, while Dragonair has a fleet of 42 aircraft, all Airbus.

Arconics Customer Focus – Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways selected AeroDocs Document Management System to maintain the highest levels of quality and consistency in their document management procedures and to help meet their global safety and compliance goals. Arconics delivers best-in-class software to help Qatar Airways deliver timely, consistent documents to every computer and mobile device across the Qatar Airways Group with an end-to-end audit trail.

AeroDocs is the world’s best airline document management system and has three core modules, each with an extensive range of benefits. AeroDocs Viewer, Distributor and XML Author, deliver a connected solution and operate comfortably at scale. Arconics will implement AeroDocs for all group companies including Qatar Airways, Qatar Cargo, Qatar Executive, and Qatar Amiri Flight.

Qatar Airways flies one of the most modern fleets in the world, with 164 aircraft in the skies today. Qatar Airways fleet includes the Boeing B787, the Airbus A350 and the Airbus A380, reaching 146 destinations, with an additional 320 aircraft on order. Their global network currently spans key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America, with scheduled flights operating to and from their hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar.

SITAONAIR and Solar Impulse: a shared spirit of innovation

Improving operational efficiency

Geneva – 22 June 2016 – Solar Impulse’s remarkable round-the-world journey is in its final stages, as the world’s first fully connected aircraft completes its Atlantic crossing and heads for Seville. The Solar Impulse adventure demonstrates not only the potential for solar-powered flight and clean, eco-friendly technologies, but also the incredible advances being made in ground-to-air connectivity.

SITAONAIR has been involved in the Solar Impulse project from its earliest stages and joins prestigious industrial and scientific partners including Schindler, Omega, ABB, Google, Bayer, Altran, Moët-Hennessy and Swisscom.

Solar Impulse pilot Bertrand Piccard takes a selfie on way from Hawaii to California.

 
As a Specialized Partner and hand-in-hand with Swisscom, the Swiss national operator, SITAONAIR provides Solar Impulse with broadband satellite technology for real-time pilot voice and data communications, and a specially-designed ground infrastructure to assure global air-to-ground communications for the aircraft whenever and wherever it flies.

The connectivity provided by SITAONAIR also allows the Solar Impulse team to track and monitor the aircraft in real-time, and gives them access to real-time weather updates, which has been so crucial to the round-the-world journey, not least during the Atlantic crossing, when weather conditions and turbulence were expected to be particularly challenging.

In addition, this connectivity gives the Solar Impulse team access to real-time biometrics data, so they can monitor the health and well-being of the pilot – either Bertrand Piccard or Andre Borschberg  – while he is in the air. This has been a particularly valuable feature during the longer legs of the journey, including the five-day Pacific crossing, and the journey across the Atlantic.

The connected aircraft
The connectivity being demonstrated on Solar Impulse will also have future applications for passenger flight – with similar versions of many of the devices being used onboard also available to commercial airlines through SITAONAIR’s operational and inflight product bases.

Greg Ouillon, Chief Technology Officer, SITAONAIR, says connectivity is a crucial element of the Solar Impulse story.

He says: “When the pilot boards the aircraft, he knows he is fully connected to every facet of his journey. He has the absolute certainty that his team on the ground will monitor his progress and report real-time flight conditions.”

Since beginning its journey in Abu Dhabi last year, Solar Impulse has travelled to Oman, India, China, Japan and across the United States. Its latest leg has seen it leave New York to cross the Atlantic, where it is due to stop over in southern Europe or North Africa, depending on conditions, before returning to Abu Dhabi.

Solar Impulse while on the ground.

The connectivity provided by SITAONAIR has helped Solar Impulse to capture the imagination of people across the globe, allowing them to experience the flights in real-time via a video stream and messaging on social networks. These videos, including one taken from outside the cockpit by Bertrand using a selfie stick, have attracted global press coverage.

Nose-to-tail connectivity
At the beginning of the project, achieving full nose-to-tail connectivity on an aircraft with strict restraints on weight and energy usage – at 2.3 tonnes, Solar Impulse weighs roughly the same as a car, despite being the size of a commercial airliner – would have seemed to many an impossibility, much like the concept of solar-powered flight itself. 

Ouillon says: “Today, it seems remarkable, but a few years ago it was considered wishful thinking.”

For Ouillon, however, what is most significant about what Solar Impulse and SITAONAIR have achieved together is how it has captured the spirit of innovation. Over the past few years, SITAONAIR has been awarded several prizes for its pioneering spirit and been recognized by CNBC as one of Europe’s most creative companies.

While it remains to be seen if and when solar-powered commercial flights will become a reality, many of the innovations that have made Solar Impulse possible – for example the development of lightweight communications solutions that minimise energy usage on board the aircraft – have potential benefits for today’s commercial aviation sector.

SITAONAIR’s involvement in the project demonstrates its continued commitment to innovation. Its suite of products is enabling commercial airlines to realize value and the full potential of connectivity. These products are contributing to the digital transformation of the cockpit, improving operational efficiency, airline safety and the passenger experience.

“We are always focussed on innovation,” says Ouillon. “Back in 2010, we were one of the first companies to offer passengers the opportunity to make phone calls during a flight, with our Mobile ONAIR product.

“Our involvement with Solar Impulse demonstrates that we are not just active in commercial airlines and VIP operators today; we are thinking about what can be achieved in the future.”