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Connectivity (/category/connectivity)

Etihad Airways Pilots Are Using a New EFB Application for Real-
Time Weather Updates
By Woodrow Bellamy III (/author/wbellamyaccessintel-com) | July 18, 2019
Send Feedback (/contact-us/) |  @WBellamyIIIAC (https://www.twitter.com/WBellamyIIIAC)

application (/?s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=application), EFB (/?s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=ef b), Etihad Airways (/?

s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=etihad+airways), eWAS (/?s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=ewas), Sitaonair (/?
s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=sitaonair), turbulence (/?s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=turbulence), weather (/?
s=&facets[taxonomy_post_tag][]=weather)

     

(https://cdn.aviationtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/etihad-787.jpg)

Etihad Airways is using a new EFB application called eWAS from SITAONAIR on 100 aircraft within its in-service eet. Boeing 787-9. Photo: Boeing.

Etihad Airways is deploying a new cloud-hosted electronic ight bag (EFB) weather forecasting application across 100 of its in-service
aircraft eet that will give the UAE national carrier's pilots access to turbulence alerting, areas of icing and other information graphically
depicted on tablet screens.

The application, EFB Weather Awareness Solution (eWAS), developed by SITAONAIR in partnership with GTD, was trialed by Etihad pilots
throughout 2018 ahead of its initial launch in April. A key enabler for pilot use of eWAS is AppsConnect, which is best described as
SITAONAIR’s application connectivity cloud-hosted hub, where pilot EFB applications are connected to the proper available connectivity
link.
As an example, in the air it can route the eWAS need for updated airport conditions at a destination airport with ACARS, or the satellite
communications network that an aircraft is equipped with. On the ground, the app is automatically routed to available 3G or 4G networks to
update weather forecasting data.

(https://cdn.aviationtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/weather-forecast.png)

A weather forecasting image generated by eWAS. Photo: SITAONAIR

“eWAS fully integrates with the airline’s aircraft environment, utilizing any connectivity, operating over Wi-Fi or 3G or 4G mobile data link on
the ground, or an IP link like satcom or a narrow band ACARS link. An aircraft interface device is required if connecting to cockpit
communications systems,” said Toby Tucker, portfolio director for SITAONAIR told Avionics International.

There are currently 50 airlines trialling the use of the eWAS app, which has also been adopted by Singapore Airlines and Air France, Tucker
con rmed.

The weather awareness application is also compatible with Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband-Safety (SB-S) communications, which can give pilots
a real-time view of changing weather conditions. Inmarsat describes the SB-S network as a digital high-speed, secure IP broadband network
capable of supporting up to 432 kbps per channel. SB-S provides a prioritized IP channel — a connection that adds additional availability for
IP data throughput for cockpit data and voice communications traf c. The L-band powered connection also supports uploads and
downloads of the meteorological and environmental information used by the eWAS application.

Weather information is obtained by the application through a multi-source forecast format fused by weather forecasting feeds pulled from
weather data providers including DTN, NOAA, WSI, Jeppesen and Meteo-France. Other features include the ability to show pilots areas of
turbulence that have been reported by Etihad’s aircraft ying along similar routes. DTN, a Minnesota-based provider of visual data analytics
and other graphical applications, is also supplying turbulence alerting depictions to Qantas Airways
(https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/01/10/qantas-developing-new-connected-cockpit-applications/).

“This updated view of the signi cant weather allows the airlines pilots to have earlier visibility of the real weather scenario in a “strategic”
view in eWAS, which then compliments any tactical avoidance decisions made by using the onboard radar as you get closer to any events,”
said Tucker.

Etihad is deploying the new application across 100 of its in-service eet of more than 120 aircraft. The Middle Eastern airline has launched
new routes to Rome and Shanghai on the Boeing 787-10 since the beginning of June.

“The advanced communications connectivity on modern aircraft signi cantly improves the quality of data available to pilots, and the real-
time information provided by SITAONAIR enhances their ability to anticipate, safely navigate or avoid major weather fronts,” said Guy
Farn eld, Etihad’s head of ight operations support.
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