At this time, Superior Air is implementing something that is innovative, but at the same time… obvious for Greek and not only aviation. The reason for this is the Safety Briefing Video, i.e. the briefing of the passengers of the aircraft via video in terms of access, safety and the information they need to know.
Basically, just before the passenger boards the air taxi, he or she receives a link to a video on an easy-to-use platform such as YouTube. The video – which has been edited by Nikos Danilidis, while Greek Helicopters, which, in collaboration with the Greek Airtaxi Network developed the concept, has been in charge of the technical part – provides information on how to approach the helicopter, the position of the life jackets, the operation of the belts, the use of the windows, etc.
Superior is the first to implement the Safety Briefing Video throughout its fleet, as it will be available on all airtaxi aircraft, not only by sending it to the passenger, but also via a QR Code placed in conspicuous places in the cabin.
But this is not the only… self-evident innovative technology that Superior Air adopts. At the same time as the Preflight Briefing link, the company sends the passenger a link to the AviTracer platform. Thus, he can be informed in real time about the location of the flight, speed, arrival/departure time and much more.
As one of the pioneers of AviTracer and founder of Greek Helicopters, Dimitris Ververelis, explains to AAA, “AviTracer is a (very) small device, which gives all the information about the flight and the aircraft with great accuracy and low cost. We did not invent the wheel. We simply used existing technology adapted to the needs and for the benefit of aviation. In cooperation with the person responsible for programming the platform, Kostas Antonopoulos, also a pilot, we are in a continuous process of developing the system.”
From the device located on the aircraft, the flight operations office – for example – on the ground can see flight and route information such as altitude, position, speed imprinted on a map of their choice, such as satellite or even aeronautical. At the same time, the airline or broker of a flight can, through a link provided to the customer/passenger, give him access to some of this information, such as aircraft position, estimated time of arrival, etc.
At the same time, the company can control its entire fleet at the same time, and the system’s advantages include push notifications. This way, the flight operations manager can receive information about the aircraft’s position, as well as extra info from the pilot. Simply put, an automated message arrives on the FOM’s mobile phone the moment the pilot takes off, takes off from an airport or heliport, lands or even when entering the Athens Terminal Area.
Flight recording and capture is extremely helpful to pilot schools, since in addition to monitoring the training aircraft in real time, instructors are able to view the flight capture after landing and discuss it with the student during debriefing. Data is kept on file for one year.
Already, the Dekelias Air Club uses AviTracer to monitor its aircraft during training flights and training of the aerobatic pilots, since for the latter it is an excellent aid in their preparation.
The innovative feature of AviTracer is that it does not use a satellite, like similar existing devices, which are very expensive as devices and as a service and give info every two minutes or so, using a satellite that sends information to the server. Here, AviTracer uses cellular antennas (regardless of provider or country) dramatically lowering the cost and sending data every 10 seconds, which makes the information truly real time. The only “limitations” are that the system is tested up to 8,000 feet and 300 knots per hour, so it is aimed at light aircraft, air taxi companies usually helicopter companies and schools. Standalone devices are also available for the General Aviation and there will soon be an iPhone app.
In this Greek effort, Superior Air showed confidence from the very first moment, even participating in beta testing with hundreds of flight hours since last winter to be ready for the summer season.
Today, the system has already been installed on all of the company’s aircraft and is fully operational as the increase in the fleet to 11 helicopters and 7 planes has made the need for coordination and control of the assets more urgent, while similar interest has been shown by other companies in the industry, who have requested and received a demo device, with some planning by the end of the month to use the AviTracer platform for their entire fleet.
The above initiative is strongly supported by the Greek Airtaxi Network, which hopes that it will become a common ground for all aviation companies (and) in Greece. After all, these are … self-evident services, which other industries have been using for quite some time, while the Greek Airtaxi Network always encourages initiatives that promote flight safety, better passenger service and the promotion of the use of helicopters and airplanes.