Panasonic Avionics Announces Connected Fuel Saving Solutions with Safety Line and Air Austral

Hamburg, Germany – 11 April, 2018 – Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic); Safety Line; and Air Austral, one of the main airlines serving the Indian Ocean, today announced an agreement to provide fuel saving solutions for the carrier’s narrowbody and widebody aircraft.

As a first step, Air Austral will implement Safety Line’s OptiClimb solution on all aircraft in its fleet, which will allow the carrier to save up to six percent of fuel during ascent by delivering optimized climb profiles to pilots ahead of each flight.

The optimization process leverages historical flight data and combines machine learning performance models for each aircraft together with accurate 4D weather gradients throughout the climb.

In parallel to implementing OptiClimb, Air Austral has also agreed to test Safety Line’s OptiCruise and OptiDescent solutions. These utilise Safety Line’s on-board OptiFlight App together with Panasonic’s connectivity to provide real-time flight recommendations taking into account the latest weather forecasts.

This test campaign is a major step forward in the strategic partnership between Panasonic and Safety Line which was first announced in November 2016 and is geared towards delivering connected fuel saving solutions to airline customers.

“Air Austral looks forward to saving fuel and reducing the carbon footprint of both our narrowbody and widebody operations. We are also very excited in partnering with Panasonic Avionics and Safety Line to test and validate innovative fuel saving solutions that will benefit the industry as a whole,” said Olivier Jay, Head of Flight Operations at Air Austral.

“Combining our strategic partnership with Panasonic Avionics, one of the major players in aviation, and the agility of Air Austral, who operate a modern and well-equipped fleet allows us to accelerate our innovation process in ways we could only dream of,” said Pierre Jouniaux, CEO of Safety Line.

“Our partnership with Safety Line allows us to leverage our connectivity solutions towards unique fuel saving solutions much appreciated by our airline customers,” said Jeff Sare, Vice President of Corporate Planning and Business Development for Panasonic Avionics. “We knew we had a perfect fit when we decided to introduce Air Austral to Safety Line for testing our joint solutions.”

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About Air Austral
Air Austral, a Reunion Island-based French airline, is a major player in Indian Ocean transport services between mainland France and its regional connections: Reunion Island, Mauritius, Mayotte, the Comoro islands, Madagascar, the Seychelles and South Africa, Thailand (Bangkok), and Southern India (Chennai). With 950 employees, the airline has grown since its creation in 1975, raising itself up to the standards of the best international airlines. Air Austral operates 12 weekly flights between Paris-CDG and Reunion Island, and 3 weekly flights between Paris-CDG and Mayotte, and provides daily connections to the Indian Ocean islands. Building on a code-share agreement with Air France, the Reunion Island airline also offers a service from Paris-CDG to more than 40 European destinations and from 19 French cities and Brussels, in partnership with TGVAir via Paris-CDG. As of 13 October 2017, Air Austral operates a direct Marseilles-Reunion Island service.

Its fleet is presently made up of 2 dual-class 787-8, 3 triple-class 777-300 for long-haul flights, 2 737-800 and 1 ATR 72-500 for regional flights. Air Austral operates the most modern fleet in the Indian Ocean. The fleet, the comfort of the cabins, the in-flight services and the hospitality of its staff are the main assets of an airline that is known and recognized for its quality of service. www.air-austral.com

About Panasonic Avionics Corporation
Panasonic Avionics Corporation is the world’s leading supplier of inflight entertainment and communication systems. The company’s best-in-class solutions, supported by professional maintenance services, fully integrate with the cabin enabling its customers to deliver the ultimate travel experiences with a rich variety of entertainment choices, resulting in improved quality communication systems and solutions, reduced time-to-market and lower overall costs.

Established in 1979, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, a U.S. corporation, is a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. Headquartered in Lake Forest, California with over 4,554 employees and operations in 80 global locations, it has delivered over 8,000 IFE systems and 1,300 inflight connectivity solutions to the world’s leading airlines. For additional information, please visit www.panasonic.aero

Panasonic Contact
Brian Bardwell
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel: +1 949 462 1742
Brian.Bardwell@panasonic.aero

About Safety Line
Paris based Safety Line offers Big Data software solutions for the safety and efficiency of airline and airport operations with a focus on fuel and CO2 emissions reduction. The combination of a solid expertise in aviation associated with patented research in data science applied to air transport allow Safety Line to offer uniquely innovative solutions to airline and airport operators. Safety Line’s philosophy of integrating with whichever solutions customers already have in place, through strategic partnerships and an open architecture, allows customers to achieve better results with minimum effort.

Safety Line Contact
Nora Serin
Marketing & Communications Manager
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 43 75 70
nora.serin@safety-line.fr