Key Points

• Thales has been selected to supply avionics systems on AirAsia’s 304 A320neos
• The avionics package, includes TopFlight FMS, T3CAS, Low Range Radio Altimeter and Emergency Location Transmitters.
• Repair-by-The-Hour long-term maintenance contract also signed.

Thales has been selected by AirAsia for the equipment of avionics systems on their new fleet of 304 A320neos. The contract will also include a long-term Repair-By-The-Hour support agreement. Deliveries of the aircraft started in October 2016.

Thales will equip the 304 single-aisles with its market leading Flight Management System (FMS)1, the navigation solution of choice for Airbus aircraft, alongside the THALES/ACSS T3CAS2 surveillance platform, the preferred solution for all Airbus single aisle aircraft. Beyond its position as a market leading instrument, with approximately 70% market share on new Airbus A320 and A330 families, the Thales FMS has several key differentiators to competitors’ systems, such as the “what you see is what you fly” technology and temporary flight plan capability. The new fleet will also feature Low Range Radio Altimeter (LRRA) and Emergency Location Transmitters (ELT).

“The Asian aviation market is one of the most competitive in the world. Carriers like AirAsia must strive to the highest levels of aircraft utilisation and efficiency in order to succeed. As a result, they require an avionics components developer and MRO network they can trust to deliver to the highest standards and with near perfect reliability. It is therefore a point of particular pride that Thales is chosen time and time again by AirAsia.”  
Eric Huber, Vice-President and General Manager of Avionics Services Worldwide, Thales

Thales has been partnering with AirAsia, leading LCC in Asia, since 2005, forging a close relationship in support of the airline’s growth strategy. AirAsia already equips their entire Airbus fleet with Thales systems and has selected the group for all maintenance and support operations for Thales systems equipped across their entire A320 fleet of 200 aircraft. In addition to the avionics suite, Thales will continue to provide a Repair-by-The-Hour (RBTH) long-term maintenance contract to support AirAsia’s fleet expansion.  The agreement provides guaranteed turnaround times on repairs and offers a commitment of reliability with reduced operational risk.

Notes to editors

1. The Thales FMS system which includes powerful hardware combined with the latest certified Airbus Release 1A software is offering second to none reactivity and unique features such as secondary flight plan and realistic navigation trajectory computations or FMS Landing System capabilities (FLS) to flight crew.
2. The integrated Thales/ACSS T3CAS Surveillance platform is the preferred and basic solution for Airbus on all their single aisle aircraft.
T3CAS® by ACSS is a complete surveillance solution that integrates TCAS, TAWS and a transponder in a single 6MCU box on the Airbus Single Aisle aircraft. T3CAS provides a platform that offers Required Navigation Performance – Authorization Required (RNP AR), Airborne Traffic Situational Awareness (ADS-B IN ATSAW) capability, Runway Overrun Protection System full compliance and the first ADS-B OUT DO-260B compliant transponder on the market.
The performance based TAWS embedded in the integrated solution T3CAS is associated with the high resolution terrain Data Base that will allow to perform RNP AR (Required Navigation Performance) approaches in mountainous challenging airports.
Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), 70% owned by L-3 and 30% owned by Thales, is a leader in safety avionics systems that increase safety, situational awareness and efficiency for aircraft operators in all phases of flight. ACSS is part of L-3 Aviation Products, which includes Aviation Recorders, Avionics Systems Display Systems and Electronic System Services.
The surveillance platform is compliant with existing and future ATM requirements in Europe, the US and APAC regions and opens the way for ADS-B IN capabilities. Besides offering an integrated TCAS Change 7.1, a performance based TAWS and an ADS-B capable transponder in a 6 MCU package, T3CAS® also offers a full range of Airbus ADS-B IN functions such as ATSA-AIRB (Enhanced Air traffic Surveillance) and ATSA-ITP (In Trail Procedure) on Single Aisle and Long Range aircraft.

About Repair-by-the-Hour & Avionics-by-the-Hour:
Thales has developed a complete range of maintenance services like Repair By The Hour (RBTH) and Avionics By The Hour (ABTH) programs aimed at providing customers with the ability to reduce their maintenance expenses and component cost of ownership. This business model has proven highly successful to serve the specific needs of its growing customer base in Asia-Pacific.

About Thales
Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence & Security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of €14.9 billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its exceptional international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world.