ETW Staff– Mumbai
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, has signed multiple contracts with Honeywell Aerospace to improve maintenance efficiency and increase cockpit and cabin connectivity. The contracts include an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) maintenance agreement for SriLankan’s Airbus A320, A330 and A340 fleets to improve maintenance planning and lower costs, and communication avionics for six new A330 aircraft scheduled for delivery later in 2014.
Priyantha Rose, head of engineering, SriLankan Airlines, said, “As we expand our operations around the world and prepare to join the oneworld alliance, it is essential that our aircraft cater to the passenger’s growing need for onboard connectivity and that we maintain the highest possible level of fleet availability. Honeywell’s superior technology, quality service and excellent support team are key reasons behind our continued trust and decision to select the company’s technologies and services for our current and new fleets.”
The avionics include communication and navigation hardware, data link software, flight data and voice recorders, and satellite connectivity systems to enhance aircraft-to-ground communication.
As part of the avionics contract, Honeywell will install its Quantum Line communication and navigation system; HFR5 data link-capable solid state recorders; MCS-7200 L-band SATCOM system; and Air Traffic Services Unit Airline Operational Communication (ATSU AOC) data link software across the airline’s six new A330-300s.
The APU contract will see Honeywell manage APU maintenance for its 131-9A and 331-350 APUs installed on SriLankan’s Airbus fleet. The APU is a small turbine engine located in the tail cone of the aircraft that provides auxiliary power for the cabin and for main engine startup.
The agreement also includes Honeywell’s Predictive Trend Monitoring Programme, an integrated web-based monitoring tool that provides advanced trending, prognostics and troubleshooting of the APU to enable condition-based maintenance and proactive fleet management for reduced costs and downtime.
Arijit Ghosh, president, Honeywell Aerospace India, “Honeywell’s technologies support two key objectives of SriLankan Airlines; increasing efficiency by taking the guesswork out of maintenance, and improving the in-flight connectivity capabilities of its aircraft. While our avionics deliver enhanced connectivity to SriLankan pilots and passengers in the air, our APU maintenance agreement helps keep maintenance costs lower on the ground. Together they increase operational efficiency, reduce cockpit workload for the pilots and improve flying experience for its passengers.”
