Norwegian Air Shuttle will be replacing the existing Electronic flight Bag solution in their entire fleet og Boeing 737 aircraft with the new EFB concept from Scandinavian Avionics and TUIfly's initial plan are to upgrade 12 of their Boeing 737-800 aircraft and are targeting a full fleet deployment in the near future.
The solution consists of 2 ruggedized 10.0 'Panasonic tablets, Scandinavian Avionics' Data Integration Center (DIC-600) for aircraft interface and server capability and a separate communication module (ERC-400) that eases the certification process and future-proofs the operator's future communication demands.
The concept provides a wide range of features and information to the pilots at the tip of their fingers, such as airports charts, check lists, manuals and much more. In addition, the EFB solution, comes with an optional Cockpit Door Surveillance System (CDSS) which interfaces to the Panasonic tablets. Both the DIC-600, the ERC-400 and the CDDS are developed in-house by SA Technologies AB - a Scandinavian Avionics subsidiary handling R&D activities in the SA Group.
Future-proof solution
By redefining the traditional EFB architectural concept by moving focus from the actual EFB display in the cockpit to the flexible infrastructure in the aircraft, the solution stands out because it is one of the only truly future-proof solutions on the market.
Due to intelligent infrastructure of the concept, basically any current and future tablet can relatively simply be certified for installation in the aircraft. This enables the airline to upgrade the tablets concurrently with the rapid development of consumer tablets and their functionality.
The communication module, which is designed to communicate with the airline's ground systems, is designed with USB network dongle connectivity, which enables the airline to simply shift the network dongle concurrently with the development of network technology 4G, 5G, 6G etc.
All in all, the future-proof design of the concept enables the airline to modernize the EFB solution concurrently with the future technology development at minimal costs. John-Christian Paulshus, Head of Business Development Operational IT Solutions at Norwegian Air Shuttle says:
"We prefer not to invest in proprietary EFB solutions; but to invest in more open infrastructure that will support today's and future EFB devices. We strongly believe in rather short-cycles devices in cockpit while maintaining a flexible infrastructure in the avionics compartment for many years. We have been looking for a replacement EFB solution that will provide Norwegian with the best price performance available - in line with our overall business concept with modern equipment - and we have now found the solution for the future"
Since the launch of the EFB concept about a year ago, Scandinavian Avionics has experienced a significant interest in the tablet based EFB solution.
"We have already signed contracts with Danish Air Transport and Norwegian Air Shuttle and based on the latest signing with TUIfly and the inquiries we recieve from other airlines, we are confident that flexible and future-proof solutions are what airlines are demanding right now" says Håkan Norell, CTO at SA Technologies AB.