Azul Becomes First Carrier in the Americas to Adopt AIRCOM FlightTracker

Azul activated its AIRCOM® FlightTracker system earlier this month, making the Brazilian low-cost carrier the first airline in the Americas to use this SITA OnAir system. Azul can now track flights in real time on all of its routes.

Since it launched in 2008, Azul has used SITA OnAir AIRCOM® technology, which made adding FlightTracker a simple software upgrade to the ground-based server for the airline. Azul can now track its entire fleet of Embraer 190 and 195s, ATR 72-600s and Airbus A330s, and the A320neos and A350s that the airline has on order will also be tracked from the moment they enter service.

After the disappearance of MH370, the International Civil Aeronautical Organization, with support from the International Air Transport Association established an Aircraft Tracking Task Force to review of various aircraft tracking solutions available in the market and make specific recommendations on use of this technology. FlightTracker meets the Task Force’s recommendations.

By correlating multiple sources of data, including air traffic control information, terrestrial and satellite feeds, and the airline’s flight plans, FlightTracker can give airlines real-time aircraft position monitoring. The system can also issue automatic alerts when an aircraft goes outside pre-determined parameters, keeping flight controllers informed at all times.

AIRCOM® FlightTracker’s issues periodic updates every 15 minutes in every phase of the flight, or whatever periodic interval an airline chooses. It can issue more frequent reports in the case of an emergency.

“Flight operations teams need to be able to follow aircraft positions and identify any unexpected deviations or gaps in position reports,” says Ian Dawkins, CEO of SITA OnAir, “while using existing equipment and procedures, without adding significant cost.”

More than 90 airlines around the world now use SITA OnAir’s AIRCOM® technology, several of these have already deployed the FlightTracker function and SITA OnAir expects more to follow.