NAVBLUE

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
NAVBLUE
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Aviation
Software
Founded Toronto, Ontario
(1985)
Headquarters Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Toulouse, France
Hersham, UK
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Fabrice Hamel (Chairman)
Marc Lemeilleur(Chief Executive Officer)
Nathalie Lorenz (Chief Financial Officer)
Briac Kerihuel (Chief Commercial Officer)
Number of employees
500
Parent Airbus
Website https://www.navblue.aero/

NAVBLUE, an amalgamation of Navtech, Airbus LUCEM and Airbus ProSky, is Airbus’ flight operations software subsidiary. [1] [2] They provide products which include software for flight planning, aircraft performance, flight data analysis, aeronautical charts, crew planning, [3] [4] electronic flight bag and navigational data. NAVBLUE is based in Toulouse, France with an additional headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada as well as a major office in Hersham, United Kingdom and several satellite offices worldwide.

Contents

History

In the mid-1980s Ray English, an Air Canada pilot, conceived and developed a computer system to better calculate the benefits of tankering fuel for Air Canada. To his chagrin, the company showed no interest in the program despite the fact that it could save them millions of dollars per year. He consequently offered his program to Wardair who immediately recognized its value, but suggested that it would be better if he could create a flight plan program capable of incorporating the tankerage calculations. With the help of his wife Dorothy, a self-taught software engineer, and a small staff they expanded the concept of the original program to include not just a computerized flight planning function but a full-blown flight operations management system (FOMS). They began working in their garage in the small town of Elmira near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Over the next few years, Navtech acquired several customers, including Wardair, American Trans Air, Nationair, and Canada 3000. The Navtech concept was to provide small airlines with a fully independent in-house system rather than the typical centrally hosted service-bureau style of flight planning service offered by others such as Jeppesen, Compuflight, and Borneman.

One of the most significant features of the Navtech flight planning software was its ability to calculate the minimum time route along published airways between any origin and destination using the appropriate forecast winds and temperatures for the speed and altitude range of the aircraft type employed. This "MTTA" functionality was a radical improvement over other competing systems that, like the original Navtech offering, could only assess which was the best route of those currently on file.

As Internet communications developed, Navtech also developed a hosted implementation of their flight operations management product which allowed customers to communicate remotely with Navtech computers to request and generate a flight plan. Navtech merged with Compuflight, a flight operations services provider based in Long Island, New York, in 1994 to expand its flight planning market share and to introduce runway analysis service to its customers.

Navtech further augmented its flight operations service portfolio in 1998 when it acquired the Weather Service Division of Global Weather Dynamics Inc. (GWDI) which was based in Monterey, California. In 1999, Navtech acquired Skyplan's UK division to accelerate its growth in the European market.

In 2001, Navtech acquired Airware Solutions, Inc. and entered the Crew Planning market, providing the industry's leading Preferential Preferential Bidding System. A partnership was created with Parallel Integrated Applications Systems to offer airlines its Pairings Optimizer.[ citation needed ]

In 2005, Navtech acquired European Aeronautical Group, a group founded by Scandinavian Airlines, British Airways and a number of avionics manufacturers. [5] [6]

In 2015, Navtech acquired DW International Limited, an industry leader of Performance Based Navigation (PBN) software [7]

In 2016, Airbus acquired Navtech and merged it with Airbus LUCEM and Airbus ProSky to form NAVBLUE. [8] [9] [10]

On November 17, 2016, NAVBLUE signed a three-years contract with the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam for a full redesign of the national air traffic plan, in cooperation with the three top airline companies and the two busiest airports- Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Noi Bai International Airport. [11]

In 2020 NAVBLUE acquires Aviolinx and the RAIDO application to complete the N-Operations Control Centre Suite, and enhances its Flight Operations and Air Traffic Management Portfolio.

Products

Navtech's first product was Navtech Flight Plan, now marketed as Navblue Flight Plan. This allows airlines to manage the costs associated with flight operations, minimizing spending on fuel consumption, operating costs, and flight time. Navtech has developed two aircraft performance computer applications:

Navblue's aeronautical charting products create aerodrome and en-route navigation charts as well as those used for helicopter operations. Navtech's crew planning software, the Preferential Bidding System builds both flying and reserve schedules with an add-on module for training schedules. Pairing Optimizer is a desktop application which produces crew pairings covering various scheduling periods.

Navblue's software creates and uses large aeronautical and navigational databases for flight management systems and flight simulators, as well as ground positioning systems, aircraft simulators, airspace modelling, and air traffic systems. Electronic flight bag software provides Navtech tools to pilots electronically on a laptop or tablet. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air traffic control</span> Service to direct pilots of aircraft

Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of traffic in the air, and provide information and other support for pilots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airbus A310</span> Short-fuselage derivative of the Airbus A300 airliner

The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie GIE, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-body. On 7 July 1978, the A310 was launched with orders from Swissair and Lufthansa. On 3 April 1982, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight, and the A310 received its type certificate on 11 March 1983.

Canadian Airlines International Ltd. was a major Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carrying more than 11.9 million passengers to over 160 destinations in 17 countries on five continents at its height in 1996. Canadian Airlines served 105 destinations in Canada, more than any other airline. It was a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonton International Airport</span> Airport in Alberta, Canada

Edmonton International Airport, officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport since 2022, is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. Designated as an international airport by Transport Canada and operated by Edmonton Airports, it is located 14 nautical miles south southwest of Downtown Edmonton in Leduc County on Highway 2 opposite of the city of Leduc. The airport offers scheduled non-stop flights to major cities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wardair</span> Defunct airline of Canada (1952–1989)

Wardair Canada was a privately run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1952 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and merged into Canadian Airlines in 1989.

Nepal Airlines Corporation, formerly known as Royal Nepal Airlines, is the flag carrier of Nepal. Founded in 1958, it is the oldest airline of the country. Out of its main base at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, the airline operates domestic services within Nepal and medium-haul services in Asia. The airline's first aircraft was a Douglas DC-3, used to serve domestic routes and a handful of destinations in India. The airline acquired its first jet aircraft, Boeing 727s, in 1972. As of February 2023, the airline operates a fleet of six aircraft. Since 2013, the airline has been on the list of air carriers banned in the European Union.

Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), established in 1929, was a major provider of transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight industries: aviation, airports, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and transportation. ARINC had installed computer data networks in police cars and railroad cars and also maintains the standards for line-replaceable units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">École nationale de l'aviation civile</span> University of civil aviation

École nationale de l'aviation civile is one of 205 colleges accredited to award engineering degrees in France. ENAC is designated as a grande école by the Conférence des Grandes écoles (CGE), a non-profit organisation which certifies and monitors grandes écoles. ENAC was founded on 28 August 1949 to provide initial and continuing education in the field of civil aviation. The school is an établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel, and operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Affiliated with the University of Toulouse and Aerospace Valley, it is one of the five founders of France AEROTECH.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACARS</span> Aircraft digital message communication system

In aviation, ACARS is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The protocol was designed by ARINC and deployed in 1978, using the Telex format. More ACARS radio stations were added subsequently by SITA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight management system</span> Component of aircraft avionics

A flight management system (FMS) is a fundamental component of a modern airliner's avionics. An FMS is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that modern civilian aircraft no longer carry flight engineers or navigators. A primary function is in-flight management of the flight plan. Using various sensors (such as GPS and INS often backed up by radio navigation) to determine the aircraft's position, the FMS can guide the aircraft along the flight plan. From the cockpit, the FMS is normally controlled through a Control Display Unit (CDU) which incorporates a small screen and keyboard or touchscreen. The FMS sends the flight plan for display to the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Navigation Display (ND), or Multifunction Display (MFD). The FMS can be summarised as being a dual system consisting of the Flight Management Computer (FMC), CDU and a cross talk bus.

Jeppesen is an American company offering navigational information, operations planning tools, flight planning products and software. Jeppesen's aeronautical navigation charts are often called "Jepp charts" or simply "Jepps" by pilots, due to the charts' popularity. This popularity extends to electronic charts, which are increasingly favored over paper charts by pilots and mariners as mobile computing devices, electronic flight bags, integrated electronic bridge systems and other display devices become more common and readily available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic flight bag</span> Flight Information management device

An electronic flight bag (EFB) is an electronic information management device that helps flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently with less paper providing the reference material often found in the pilot's carry-on flight bag, including the flight-crew operating manual, navigational charts, etc. In addition, the EFB can host purpose-built software applications to automate other functions normally conducted by hand, such as take-off performance calculations. The EFB gets its name from the traditional pilot's flight bag, which is typically a heavy documents bag that pilots carry to the cockpit.

The Future Air Navigation System (FANS) is an avionics system which provides direct data link communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. The communications include air traffic control clearances, pilot requests and position reporting. In the FANS-B equipped Airbus A320 family aircraft, an Air Traffic Services Unit (ATSU) and a VHF Data Link radio (VDR3) in the avionics rack and two data link control and display units (DCDUs) in the cockpit enable the flight crew to read and answer the controller–pilot data link communications (CPDLC) messages received from the ground.

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is an ongoing United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) project to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS). The FAA began work on NextGen improvements in 2007 and plans to finish the final implementation segment by 2030. The goals of the modernization include using new technologies and procedures to increase the safety, efficiency, capacity, access, flexibility, predictability, and resilience of the NAS while reducing the environmental impact of aviation.

Air Philippines Corporation, operating as PAL Express and formerly branded as Air Philippines and Airphil Express, is a wholly-owned subsidiary airline of Philippine Airlines. It is PAL's regional brand, with services from its hubs in Manila, Clark, Cebu, and Davao.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Traffic Organization</span>

The Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is an air navigation service provider in the United States of America. The ATO is the operational division of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Airbus ProSky was an Airbus subsidiary dedicated to improving the performance of global air traffic management (ATM) prior to Airbus merging it with Airbus LUCEM and NAVTECH to form Navblue. Composed of ATM experts and offering various solutions to enhance air traffic capacity, efficiency and safety, Airbus ProSky works with air navigation service providers (ANSP), aircraft operators, airport authorities and Civil Aviation Authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asiana Airlines Flight 162</span> 2015 aviation accident in Japan

Asiana Airlines Flight 162 was a regular short-haul international passenger flight from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, to Hiroshima Airport in Hiroshima, Japan. On 14 April 2015, the Airbus A320-232 aircraft touched down short of the runway, struck the localizer array, skidded onto the runway on its tail, and spun 120 degrees before finally coming to a rest on the grass, opposite the terminal building. The aircraft suffered substantial damage to the left wing and engine. Of the 82 people aboard, 27 were injured, one seriously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil aviation in India</span>

Civil aviation in India, the world's third-largest civil aviation market as of 2020, traces its origin back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini.

This is a list of aviation-related events in 2023.

References

  1. "Research delivers insight into the flight management systems market by aircraft type and region analysis 2021". WahTech Transport Market Research , 07 September 2016 . Rohan Salgarkar
  2. Management Des Stratégies À Découvrir. CMA Canada. 2006. pp. 3 and 20.
  3. Cynthia Barnhart; Barry Smith (22 December 2011). Quantitative Problem Solving Methods in the Airline Industry: A Modeling Methodology Handbook. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 279–. ISBN   978-1-4614-1608-1.
  4. Speednews. Speednews. 1989. p. 138.
  5. "The SAS Group has agreed with Navtech Inc. to sell its shareholding in European Aeronautical Group". www.sasgroup.net. SAS Group. Retrieved 22 November 2005.
  6. Hoover's (2008). Hoover's Handbook of World Business. Reference Press. p. 293. ISBN   978-1-57311-122-5.
  7. "Navtech acquires DW International". Key Publishing. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  8. "Airbus acquires Waterloo-based flight software company Navtech". BetaKit, Jessica Galang, January 7, 2016
  9. "Airbus Group focuses on 'making it fly'". Skies Magazine, Lisa Gordon
  10. "Performance-based navigation flight trials advance SESAR RISE project". Intelligent Aerospace. March 11, 2016 By Courtney Howard
  11. "NAVBLUE Completes Deal with Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) and Airbus to Deliver Optimized Airspace Design of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Aeras to Enhance Safety and Efficiency". November 17, 2016. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  12. "Navtech Inc. Launches iCharts EFB At the ARINC EFB Users Forum in Memphis". investing.businessweek.com. Bloomberg Business Week. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2014.