SITA has announced to provide wireless connectivity on the ground to Air Mauritius’ new fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, aiming to keep the aircraft connected to the back-end systems
In October 2017, Air Mauritius introduced the first two Airbus A350 aircraft with a further four expected to join the fleet in next few years. The Airbus A350 brings with it a unique complexity with large data exchange in its own unique protocol, media independent aircraft messaging (MIAM). This is designed to exchange large amounts of data between the aircraft and ground systems using multiple communication channels.
SITAONAIR, SITA’s sister company focused on connected aircraft, has developed a solution to understand the MIAM communication and simplify integration into airline systems and processes. Additionally, Air Mauritius wanted this exchange on Inmarsat SwiftBroadband (SBB).
“This required SITAONAIR to work closely with all stakeholders including Airbus and IBM, to ensure the successful launch of A350 operations and in the process, hosting the entire service in the SITA ATI Cloud,” said the company.
At the gate, SITA’s wireless connectivity aims to allow the airline to quickly and securely exchange vital aircraft information generated during flight with both the airline’s own systems as well as with Airbus and IBM.
This connectivity allows for rapid exchange of aircraft information which will help Air Mauritius speed up aircraft turnaround times while ensuring seamless management of the aircraft’s systems by ensuring complete connectivity globally.
Donald Li Ying, vice president of information systems at Air Mauritius, said, “As Air Mauritius begins to introduce a new-generation of connected aircraft such as the Airbus A350, it is vital that we have a partner that can support the transfer of data both in the air and on the ground. This is vital to leverage the full benefit that connected aircraft can bring to the airline and our passengers.”
