Before we get started, we wanted to give a “tip-o-the-hat” to Jovita Toh at Encore Inflight (Hong Kong) who has developed the engaging orange shirted team of IFE content providers. They were highlighted in her Encore Expose web newsletter (Check it out here Encore Exposé – Feb19), and we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce them to you. We also wanted to highlight to our readers how successful their efforts are using their ‘teamwork’ approach, and perhaps, give you an idea of the value of working together. While not every industry content organization can (or will) use the same techniques, we suspect that the ‘team thinking’ and group planning can be of value, and obviously is, in Encore’s case. By the way, just so you know, Jovita is the lady in today’s rectangle holding a yellow arcade prize! As she notes in the website visual; “Team Spirit conquers all.” Armed with the excitement of a ‘Change In The Air’ theme, the encore team set off on a corporate retreat to be re-acquainted with each other, explore and discuss the mission of the company, and to have a bit of fun. As she notes: “Three nights in Shenzhen with a group of people that have come to be my family, they certainly were Notti Magiche (magical nights).” And yes, I now have an orange T-shirt too!

Now, lets get on with this week’s news.

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SITAONAIR

Air Senegal selected SITAONAIR to deploy its best-in-class high-speed inflight connectivity (IFC) on its new-generation A330neo fleet – making Air Senegal the first airline on the African continent to activate GX Aviation passenger connectivity onboard.

With a growing demand for connectivity from Africa’s young population and a change in the overarching aviation landscape, Air Senegal’s new inflight connectivity offering comes at a crucial moment for economic growth. SITA Air Transport IT Insights figures show that 90% of the world’s airlines plan to have major wireless inflight connectivity programs in place for enhanced passenger experience by 2021, indicating a prominent shift towards global connectivity as standard. With SITAONAIR’s Internet ONAIR solution over GX Aviation, Air Senegal passengers can access a personalized and seamless inflight connection, keeping them connected with their digital lives, business and loved ones as they fly. In another breakthrough deal for the African market, Mobile ONAIR will give passengers a seamless mobile connectivity experience, providing them with the opportunity to make calls and send texts from the air, just as they would on the ground.

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GOGO

Gogo Business Aviation announced that its most robust and highest-performing system – Gogo AVANCE L5 – has been installed and is now flying on 500 business jets. It took just 16 months to achieve the milestone from the date of the first installation – one of the fastest adoption rates of any inflight connectivity system for business aviation. With more than 770 systems shipped to date, AVANCE L5 is Gogo’s most-popular inflight connectivity system, delivering a 4G experience to a wide variety of business aircraft. From the time AVANCE L5 launched in the fourth quarter of 2017, nearly 55,000 flights have taken off with the system onboard. Gogo and its OEM partners and dealers have received certification for AVANCE L5 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) across 79 aircraft models. The system is actively being installed at all MROs and aftermarket OEM service centers. The Gogo AVANCE L5 system connects to the Gogo Biz 4G network delivering faster speeds and enhanced network capacity enabling activities such as live streaming video and audio, video conferencing, on-demand movies, faster web browsing, personal smartphone use, real-time data for cockpit apps, and remote diagnostics and support while in flight. Early in 2018 Gogo launched AVANCE L3, a system that delivers the benefits of the Gogo AVANCE platform to passengers and flight departments in a lightweight, smaller form factor compared to L5. AVANCE L3, which currently has nearly 170 systems installed, allows users to customize their inflight experience based on their unique needs and can be installed on business aircraft of all types and sizes, but is an ideal solution for smaller aircraft including turboprops and light jets.

In total, at the end of the third quarter 2018, Gogo Business Aviation reported 5,019 aircraft flying with its air-to-ground (ATG) systems onboard and another 5,137 utilizing satellite connectivity.

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FlightPath3D

FlightPath3D announced that they have been selected by over 50 airlines in just five years and they are one of the fastest growing airline app companies. They deliver their award-winning 3D Moving Map on any IFE platform and to any passenger device, empowering the digital traveler to explore destinations and travel globally like a local.

FlightPath3D’s President, Duncan Jackson says, “We’re delighted to have many airline customers flying with our wireless IFE map including, Southwest, Air Europa, Air France, All Nippon Airways, Air Arabia, Arkia, Jet Airways and WestJet.”

Commenting on the milestone, Alexis Capdevila, Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity Manager at Air Europa says, “We selected FlightPath3D as the map provider for our fleet as they have the most innovative feature-rich product, providing an immersive game-like 3D experience for our passengers enabling them to follow the flight path, explore things to do at their destination and for our younger travelers discover the animals of the world.”

Jackson continues, “Our use of personalization and new artificial intelligence will enable passengers to travel globally like a local. For example, we’ve analyzed hundreds of millions of traveler data points to recommend hyperlocal attractions in every town and back corner of the world and even sorted them by popularity – it looks amazing!”

“We also want to help airlines drive revenue, allowing passengers to explore flight times and destinations to promote airline ticket sales, and estimate journey times from aircraft to hotel to promote ground transportation partners. It’s a potent cocktail when you combine rich passenger experience features with revenue generating capabilities.”

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AIRBUS

• Airbus opened its 2019 activity with 39 aircraft deliveries for 27 customers during January, raising the overall total of jetliners provided by the manufacturer to 11,802. The month’s deliveries involved 33 aircraft from Airbus’ single-aisle A320 Family, along with five A350-900s and one A330 from its widebody product lines. Notable delivery milestones during January included the initial A321neo aircraft to U.S.-based American Airlines (which has 100 on order) and to Cebu Pacific (the largest low-cost carrier in the Philippines). Also in January, Acropolis Aviation of the UK received Airbus’ first ACJ320neo, with this corporate jet version to undergo its cabin outfitting in Switzerland. Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 31 January stood at 7,525 aircraft.
• Airbus and Dassault Systèmes have signed a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to cooperate on the implementation of collaborative 3D design, engineering, manufacturing, simulation and intelligence applications. This will enable Airbus to take a major step forward in its digital transformation and lay the foundation for a new European industrial ecosystem in aviation. Under the MOA, Airbus will deploy Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which delivers digital continuity, from design to operations, in a single data model for a unified user experience, making digital design, manufacturing and services (DDMS) a company-wide reality for all Airbus divisions and product lines. DDMS paves the way for breakthroughs in new product design, operational performance, support and maintenance, customer satisfaction and new business models, as it represents a move from sequential to parallel development processes. Instead of first focusing on product performance, Airbus will be able to co-design and develop the next generation of aircraft with the manufacturing facilities that will produce them, reducing costs and time to market. “We are not just talking about digitalisation or a 3D experience, we are rethinking the way aircraft are designed and operated, streamlining and speeding up our processes with customer satisfaction in mind.” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “DDMS is a catalyst for change and with it we are building a new model for the European aerospace industry with state of the art technology. Our target is a robust production setup that offers a reduction in product development lead time.”“Nothing exemplifies the intersection of technology, science and art more than aviation. When we reflect on how the industry has evolved to where it is today, it’s a blend of technical prowess, digital precision and inspiration,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “The Aerospace industry has a proven track record of fast transformation, faster than in most industries. It delivers high quality innovation and new services for operations in highly complex and regulated environments. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform will accelerate the digital transformation of Airbus. Airbus can capture insights and expertise from across its ecosystem to deliver new experiences that only the digital world makes possible.”
• Air Race E – Airbus has announced a global partnership with Air Race E, the world’s first electric airplane race set to launch its inaugural series in 2020. Airbus is the Official Founding Partner of Air Race E. The competition aims to drive the development and adoption of cleaner, faster, and more technologically advanced electric engines that can be applied to urban air mobility vehicles and, eventually, commercial aircraft. Air Race E will follow a format similar to the popular Air Race 1 series of the sport known as formula one air racing. Eight electric-powered airplanes will race directly against each other on a tight 5-km circuit, just 10 meters above the ground, and at speeds faster than any land-based motorsport. Airbus will work alongside other Air Race E partners, including the University of Nottingham. The University is currently developing a prototype race airplane powered by an integrated electric motor, battery, and power electronics system. The plane will help shape the model and rules for the inaugural Air Race E race in 2020.
• Aero India – From flying and static displays of its best-in-class products to showcasing its cutting-edge aerospace services, Airbus has planned one of its biggest-ever participation at Aero India to be held in Bengaluru from 20 to 24 February, 2019. The centrepiece of the flying displays will be the A330neo – the latest addition to the leading Airbus widebody family featuring advanced materials, new optimized wings, composite sharklets and highly efficient engines that together deliver 25% reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions. Demonstration flights will be performed by the new generation tactical airlifter C295 which can perform multi-role operations under all weather conditions.

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BOEING

Boeing projects the Middle East will require $745 billion in aviation services through 2037 to keep pace with growing passenger and freight traffic in the region, according to a new report released today at MRO Middle East in Dubai. The high value services market is largely driven by the demand for nearly 3,000 new commercial airplanes in the Middle East over the next twenty years, more than tripling the existing fleet. The growing fleet requires aviation services, including supply chain support (parts and parts logistics), maintenance and engineering services, and aircraft modification.
Boeing’s Services Market Outlook (SMO) 2018-2037 – Middle East Boeing: Services Market Outlook

Perspective forecasts growing need for services that increase fleet productivity and reduce operating costs. Among the report’s findings:

1. The Middle East will drive more than 8 percent of global demand for aviation services, representing $745 billion, and growing at a projected 4.6 percent annually.
2. Nearly 218,000 new personnel – 60,000 pilots, 63,000 technicians, and 95,000 cabin crew – will be needed in the Middle East over the next 20 years.

Other News From Boeing:

Uzbekistan Airways – Boeing reached an agreement with Uzbekistan Airways to provide services that will enable the airline to more efficiently and effectively maintain its 787-8 Dreamliner fleet through the Boeing Landing Gear Exchange program. The flag carrier of the Republic of Uzbekistan will rely on Boeing to support its fleet with quick and reliable landing gear exchanges when and where they need them. This program greatly reduces maintenance time, helps the airline quickly return airplanes to service, and enables the airline to focus its resources on core operations. Boeing’s 787 Landing Gear Exchange program provides a simple and economical solution for managing landing gear overhauls, while building on Boeing’s successful history of exchange programs. Through the offering, a carrier can exchange landing gears that need to be repaired or overhauled for another set of certified landing gear from a pool that Boeing maintains. This service eliminates the need for operators to contract, schedule and manage the overhaul process.

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OTHER NEWS

• Need more information on space launches and rocket power? Try free The Airlock from MIT Tech. It’s a newsletter and it roars! Sign up here – MIT Technology Review
• Eight aviation questions (and answers) we bet you don’t know the answer to: 8 Eye-Opening Facts We Didn’t Know About Aviation
• There will be some future law suit issues about “skiplagging”? Lufthansa Is Trying To Sue Passengers For Skiplagging – Simple Flying (Thanx, Bob!)
• Heard of IEEE abrogated Extended Intelligence? It is not artificial intelligence: “it is more important to design systems that participate as responsible, aware and robust elements of even more complex systems.” CXI – Council on Extended Intelligence | IEEE-SA & MIT Media Lab And, Good Luck!
• Bob Bogash sent us a link to this B747 Hotel in Amsterdam, and it’s an airplane/hotel – Coming Soon! – Air Transport News
• Airbus is using their Skywise platform for data analysis to make fleet-wise maintenance data predictions. Obviously, using historical maintenance data records, they will install systems to collect additional data for real time airline maintenance and analytics. Improve Airline Maintenance with AI & Analytics | EE Times And here is a bit more info on Skywise – Skywise