Pacelab Flight Profile Optimizer (FPO) will utilise live aircraft performance and weather data to improve on-time performance and reduce fuel costs and emissions
Inmarsat, the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, today announced Pacelab Flight Profile Optimizer (FPO) from PACE as the latest application certified for use across its SwiftBroadband-Safety (SB-S) platform for aviation operations and safety communications.
Pacelab FPO is an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) application that uses live aircraft and weather data to provide continuous updates to flight crews on the most cost-efficient speeds and altitudes to fly. Thanks to the real-time IP connectivity provided by Inmarsat SB-S, Pacelab FPO analyses live weather, avionics and aircraft performance information to optimise step climbs and step descents, continually calculating and displaying opportunities for improved efficiency. This allows flight crews to respond quickly and effectively to unforeseen changes or establish a more efficient altitude en route, reducing fuel burn and flight delays.
The potential for flight optimisation allows airlines to make vast improvements to operational efficiency through improved on-time performance and fuel savings.
The significant operational benefits correspond with recent research into the large-scale savings available to airlines adopting enhanced operational connectivity. In June, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) revealed the findings of the second chapter of Sky High Economics, a first-of-its-kind study into the economic benefits of operational connectivity for the aviation industry. The report forecasts that real-time flight optimisation on connected aircraft, such as that enabled by Pacelab FPO, could yield annual global savings of 3.39 billion litres of fuel, 8.3 million tons of CO2 and USD$1.3 billion in fuel costs.
The Pacelab FPO application was certified through Inmarsat’s Aviation Certified Application Provider (CAP) Programme, which provides a catalogue of connected operations and safety applications. With third-party applications tested, optimised and certified for use on SB-S, airlines can focus on the benefits of digitisation without having to worry about integration.
