24 September 2002 1

FANS-1/A in AsiaATN 2002 - The ATC Data link Conference

Owen Dell

Manager International Operations, Cathay Pacific Airways

•Hong Kong is our home

•Fleet ~ 80 airframes - B747/777; A340/330

FANS-1/A in Asia

• ICAO Air Navigation Commission approved the CNS/ATM concept in 1993 and accepted FANS-1/A as an interim system

• Cathay Pacific was a FANS-1 pioneer

• Almost 10 years later only 65% of the CX fleet is FANS-1/A equipped - Why??

FANS-1/A in Asia

• Total cost benefit to CX for FANS-1/A (ground and airborne):

-$?,000,000(e.g. One recent month - USD9,000 in datalink communication

charges for ADS reports requested by one ATS provider!!)

FANS-1/A in Asia

• A positive cost benefit has been established in the Pacific - this has not occurred in Asia

• Proliferation of ADS/CPDLC facilities in Asia at various stages of implementation with some duplicating radar coverage - (China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

FANS-1/A in Asia

• In the Pacific great effort has been made to ensure a co-ordinated implementation - e.g. FITs/CRA

• No such effort has been made in Asia

• FANS Action Team for the Bay of Bengal (FAT-BOB) established - only one meeting several years ago

FANS-1/A in Asia

• Hopefully things are about to change

• ICAO to revitalise FAT-BOB and form a similar group for the Western Pacific/South China Sea area

• IATA has recently made ADS/CPDLC implementation in Asia a formal priority at a regional level

FANS-1/A in Asia

• However still several years away from meaningful ATC applications using ADS/CPDLC

• In the meantime we continue to wrestle with issues which could easily be solved using ADS/CPDLC - e.g. large scale weather deviations and poor HF communications performance

FANS-1/A in Asia

• Circular argument - full benefits not available until all aircraft are equipped - all aircraft will not be equipped until benefits are demonstrated and routinely available

• No positive business case now or in the foreseeable future to retrofit the remaining 35% of the CX fleet

FANS-1/A in Asia

• Meanwhile technology development continues unabated– ADS-B, CDTI, TIS-B, Synthetic Vision

• It is critical for "end users" to help guide the development and implementation of technologies and ensure they meet industry needs - how many operators on today’s programme?

FANS-1/A in Asia

• The challenge for all is to develop a strong positive cost benefit, using technology that works and is easily interoperable in the environment of Asia’s ATS providers

• If this does not happen CNS/ATM will not move forward in Asia regardless of the march of technology

THANK YOU