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Inmarsat partners with
Australian aviation
industry to boost global
flight tracking
1
March 2015,
Inmarsat
announced that it is
partnering with
Airservices Australia
and other key aviation
industry stakeholders to
trial improved flight
tracking services on
commercial airline
flights to and from
Australia.
The
announcement follows a
resolution on 6 February
by the International
Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) to
adopt a new 15-minute
tracking standard for
commercial aircraft.
ICAO is the United
Nations body tasked with
developing international
civil aviation standards
and recommended
practices.
Inmarsat is working with
industry partners,
Airservices Australia,
Qantas and Virgin
Australia in developing
the operational concept
for the trial, using
Automatic Dependent
Surveillance - Contract
(ADS-C) satellite
technology in
Australia’s oceanic
regions.
Airservices Australia is
the first Air Navigation
Service Provider (ANSP)
to trial the ICAO
standard, utilising
Inmarsat’s global flight
tracking ADS-C messaging
service.
ADS-C provides air
traffic controllers with
a constantly updated
surveillance picture of
their airspace, thereby
allowing safe and
efficient oceanic
operations.
11,000 commercial
passenger aircraft are
already equipped with an
Inmarsat satellite
connection, representing
over 90% of the world’s
long haul commercial
fleet. Airlines
participating in the
trial include Qantas and
Virgin Australia.
Rupert Pearce, CEO of
Inmarsat, said: “This is
an important step in
improving international
airline safety and we
are very pleased to be
working with Airservices
Australia and our
industry partners to
implement this enhanced
flight tracking service.
“We
applaud ICAO’s decision
to announce the new
tracking standard and
believe that we are well
placed to help implement
the standard given our
existing global
satellite coverage and
the time-frame proposed.
Inmarsat’s heritage is
in safety and we
stand ready to
coordinate normal and
abnormal flight tracking
services with the
airlines and the ANSPs.”
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