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| AirAsia Airbus A320 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (LFBO) in France. Photo: Laurent Errera/Wikimedia Commons |
[Avionics Today 09-30-2015] AirAsia has selected Panasonic Avionics Corporation to equip its aircraft with FlightLink, Panasonic’s aircraft tracking and flight deck communications system. Additionally, Panasonic will be providing its new AirMap suite of products enabling Aeronautical Operation Control (AOC) fleet communications, management, and aircraft tracking.
Panasonic will initially install FlightLink on 90 AirAsia Airbus A320s to ensure the aircraft will be connected to the airline’s ground operations 24 hours a day. “We needed a single supplier that could provide both the hardware and service needed to maintain constant contact with our aircraft everywhere we fly,” Anaz Tajuddin, group head of engineering at AirAsia, said about selecting Panasonic.
FlightLink uses Iridium’s global satellite-based communications system to support flight deck voice and data communication, as well as autonomous GPS-based flight tracking, in all areas AirAsia flies. Additionally, the system provides fully integrated data communications for the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) system and Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs).
AirAsia is also installing Panasonic’s Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) atmospheric sensor, enabling improved flight planning and situational display of atmospheric conditions, including icing and turbulence.
As part of the overall solution, Panasonic has partnered in this offering with UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS). UTAS is supplying key enabling components to the EFB installation on these aircraft, including the onboard Aircraft Interface Device (AID), Tablet Interface Modules (TIM), and associated EFB mounting hardware and brackets.