Emirates and Etihad lead the way on aviation technology

It used to be that airlines would tout expanded flight routes or the adoption of a new high-end menu in a first class cabin.

But, these days, major carriers such as Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are increasingly promoting something else within their aircraft: high-tech gadgetry.

In June, Etihad announced its partnership with a company named Taleris to launch a new technology capable of predicting potential maintenance faults along with recommendations for fixes.

This so-called prognostics technology, which is also set for use on Etihad’s fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, is said to be a first for the commercial airline industry. It works by continuously analysing data from multiple sensors on the plane before warning of imminent problems.

Numerous aircraft parts are prone to minor flaws or fatigue cracking over time and technological ways to address these issues are at the forefront of aircraft development.

Emirates says such new technologies will make its fleet of planes significantly more efficient – and cost-effective from an operational perspective. In addition, planes utilising these systems may well be safer.

Advances in building techniques are also helping carriers to cut costs.

Lightweight materials in the Airbus A350-XWBs that Emirates has ordered, for example, will help the airline's new planes consume 25 per cent less fuel than equivalent planes out there today.

The composite materials include titanium and advanced aluminium alloys, and they will also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (C02) emissions and noise pollution compared with older aircraft, Emirates says.

"As far as technologies go, aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing – the two big ones – are reducing the fuel consumption, lowering operating costs and reducing noise levels, C02 and nitrous oxide emissions," says Olawale Harrison, an industry analyst at IBISWorld, a market research firm.

Today’s newest aircraft also feature more sensors and automated flight controls, which allow a plane to save a little more on fuel than if it relied solely on pilots to make all adjustments manually.

Some of the latest models also include newly designed wing tips, which have been carefully carved to shed fuel consumption by about 1 per cent.

“And that 1 per cent reduction in fuel use is pretty significant for airlines considering purchasing new [aircraft],” says Mr Harrison.

“New cars come out every one to two years, but airplanes are every four to eight years – and every time they come out with these little reductions it’s a pretty big deal.

”Globally, the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry now generates more than US$270 billion from the sale of civil aircraft, including aerospace engines, auxiliary equipment and parts but not military aircraft.

Revenues are expected to increase an average of 4. 7 per cent over each of the next five years, to $339. 6bn in 2018, according to a market research report released in August by IBISWorld.

Part of the industry’s growth can be attributed to a growth in flight frequencies across international routes, which has created “substantial growth in demand from airlines in India, the United Arab Emirates and China,” IBISWorld’s report says.

Such fast-growing countries as well as other emerging economies have spurred cross-border trade, which in turn has meant that growing airlines from these regions require new fleets of aircraft for added services over passenger and freight routes.

But carriers are also spending additional money while bringing other technological offerings into their aircraft to attract device-dependent but discerning passengers.

“The industry has been very intense, so each airline is trying to gain an advantage by offering many services, such as on-board Wi-Fi, touchscreen computers and television in front of you – and that’s just another selling point for the airlines,” says Mr Harrison.

As of September 1, Hawaiian Airlines said it was the only carrier based in the United States to offer Apple's iPad mini on all of its wide-body Boeing 767-300 aircraft as a replacement device for portable entertainment systems.

While that might seem like a highly specific scenario, and rare for a passenger to access, Hawaiian Airlines says it is deploying 1,500 of the tablet computers – pre-loaded with more than 100 hours of films, TV shows and games – across 14 routes between the US, the South Pacific and Asia.

Even British Airways, which ranked among the worst airlines in the world when it came to leg-room in a survey last year, is paying close attention to its in-flight entertainment systems.

Part of the company’s website allows passengers to check-in, while another lets them plug in their departure and arrival details to determine exactly what movies they will be able to watch on back-seat screens.

(Flights from Abu Dhabi to London this month were set to show the Arabic comedy 365 Yom Saada and the new Superman film Man of Steel, among other titles, in case you were curious.)

Yet airline analysts say these are still the early days of consumer electronics and innovative technologies being more closely integrated within aircraft.

As component costs have fallen, along with gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and other touchscreen entertainment systems, these elements have been wrapped into in a wider fleet of planes from aircraft makers.

“Technology is definitely getting cheaper and a lot more profitable [for airlines] than it used to be back in the day,” says Mr Harrison.

Some carriers have rolled out air-to-ground in-flight Wi-Fi and even though connectivity woes continue to frustrate many consumers, there is now also satellite-based internet service as well in some planes.

In the future, some industry experts anticipate airlines buying fleets of planes that include some of today’s newest features found on consumer electronic devices.

That might mean the ability to switch in-flight movies by using the wave of a hand or another gesture control, or perhaps even eye-based movements.

“Those [technologies] are not widespread, if rolled out at all, but will be coming,” says Russell Lemieux, the executive director for the Airline Passenger Experience Association, which represents a network of airlines and industry suppliers.

“The travel experience today, compared to just 10 years ago, has been upgraded substantially with respect to your ability to connect to the internet and not only see movies on the plane but also in high definition, on larger screens and with greater variety,” adds Mr Lemieux.

“It’s pretty incredible what’s going on in that tube at 30,000 feet.”

business@thenational.ae