Thales' Role in Advancing Aviation Sustainability and Innovation in the UAE: A Conversation with Abdelhafid Mordi

“The country is a global partner and an influential economic hub, as it looks to further strengthen its stance through the four pillars of society, economy, diplomacy and ecosystem mentioned in ‘We the UAE 2031’. Thales will continue to support the UAE through innovative technologies, educational and training programmes, as well as other innovation and localization projects.”

How the future avionics and flight operations are going to contribute to the UAE 2031 vision with the MOU signing between Etihad and GCAA?

The air transport sector is fully aware of its impact on the environment and is committed to reducing its carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and environmental sustainability is an absolute priority.

To meet this global challenge, one of the most effective ways of achieving results is to optimize flight operations to enable airspace users to choose the most efficient flight plans by following more direct routes, adjusting their flight profiles in real time, using digital tools to enable better collaboration between airspace users and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs).

The collaboration between GCAA, ETIHAD AIRWAYS and THALES occurs in the frame of an innovation framework with the ambition to improve the aviation’s environmental performance in the UAE. Through this MOU, the GCAA, Etihad Airways and Thales will test the solutions developed by Thales as part of its “Thales Orchestrator for Eco-Friendly Trajectories” offer, enabling users to implement optimized trajectories in a simple, fast and efficient way.

Another MoU has been signed in 2023 between GCAA, Tawazun Council and Thales to establish an ATM Innovation Lab in the UAE. The Innovation Lab will support the UAE aviation sector, including Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), airlines, and airports, by optimizing aircraft capacity (reducing congestion and delays), maximizing airport and airspace throughput, and supporting greener flight operations (aircraft CO2 emission reduction). This will be Thales’s first of its kind ATM Innovation Lab in the Middle East and the fourth in the world, fully focused on exploring the integration of future technologies in legacy ATM systems.

During Dubai Airshow 2023, Sanad and Thales have signed a landmark strategic framework agreement to reinforce a collaboration in the rapidly developing realms of airport services. Under the new agreement, the partnership will extend into the domain of airport security and digital operations, encompassing crucial areas such as airport safety and security systems. In this endeavour, Thales will take the lead in designing and constructing these vital systems. Concurrently, Sanad will assume a pivotal role in overseeing critical tasks such as maintenance, installation, rigorous testing, and commissioning activities for these cutting-edge systems. Sanad and Thales will collaborate closely to enhance air traffic management and advance airport operations in the Middle East and Africa by deploying innovative systems and maintenance services. Airports in the Middle East are projected to invest over USD 150 billion in capacity expansion due to global air passenger demand, which is projected to increase more than two-fold by 2040.

As a result of this expansion and the emergence of new airports, upgrades to meet future needs will be necessary, leading to increasing demand for airport security and air traffic management systems, as well as subsequent MRO services requirement.

All these signatures are reflecting Thales main contribution to the UAE local ecosystem, based on localization and innovation.

The Future Trends in Avionics that will impact this vision.

Thales plays a unique role by optimizing flight operations with an objective of reducing the climate impact of the sector by 10% by 2030:

Opening up possibilities for airlines with secure access to data from the open world. Through extensive data processing and sharing, our new connected & cybersecure FMS (“Flight Management System”) PureFlyt, a true aeroplane brain, will enable optimised operations, ease interoperability and reduce environmental impact. Thales PureFlyt is the most powerful FMS solution available today.

PureFlyt minimizes crew workload, fatigue, and human error through ease of use, intuitive interface, and improved decision-making. At the same time, PureFlyt optimizes the aircraft trajectory for fuel consumption and reduces noise pollution. With PureFlyt, Thales deploys new processes, reducing development costs and speeding up lifecycles, offering the capability to quickly implement new standards. PureFlyt uses an advanced cost index calculator to maximize fuel efficiency and minimize emissions. With the powerful Aviobook inflight optimization apps, Fuel efficiency and CO2 and NOx emissions are 3% to 4% better than the previous generation of FMS solutions.

The Thales Orchestrator ambition, also called GREEN FLAG, is to support the aviation ecological transition by executing more often eco-friendly operations via new ATC-Airlines collaborative way of working supported by digital tools.

It maximizes the opportunity for CO2 reduction thanks to an innovative way to reduce operational constraints by detecting and operating eco-friendly timeslots in En-Route and Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA).

The Orchestrator relies on the daily identification of time-spaces, flows and flights for which constraints can be dynamically adjusted: traffic dynamic adjustments considering a given day’s traffic restrictions, weather, climate sensitive areas and traffic conditions as well as airlines expectations while minimising the workload of all involved actors.

Key objective is to strengthen cooperation, anticipation and exchange of information between ATC and Airline through digital, non-safety critical and interoperable technologies to achieve short-term emissions reductions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ODuQquZGzo&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thalesgroup.com%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Moreover, Thales is building the future of ATM and announces the launch of the TopSky – ATC upgrade that further addresses the challenges of an unpredictable world of air traffic management (ATM). With the aim of creating a more efficient and collaborative approach, Thales will also bring together the product users in an alliance of users through the Alliance One, that ensures safe and seamless operations amidst growing air traffic flows.