Tiger Airways to install advanced 3-D weather radar

Honeywell’s IntuVue enhances safety and comfort for passengers while providing efficiency and reduced costs for airline.

Tiger Airways has partnered with Honeywell to install the latest technology of weather radars on its new aircraft. The IntuVueTM 3-D weather radar is an advanced system that gives pilots a fuller picture of weather conditions than the current two-dimensional (2-D) systems. Tiger Airways will be Asia’s first low-cost airline to fly A320 aircraft using this system which promises to enhance safety and passenger comfort.

As a lighter and more reliable system, IntuVueTM will also help Tiger Airways reduce costs and increase operational efficiency, according to a Tiger Airways report.

“Honeywell’s IntuVueTM 3-D weather radar has demonstrated a 50 percent reduction in weather related turbulence, enhancing safety and keeping passengers more comfortable,” said Mike Madsen, Vice President of Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace.

“IntuVueTM will also save costs for Tiger Airways because of its 50 percent increase in system reliability, 30 percent decrease in maintenance costs and 25 percent weight reduction as compared to other weather radars.”

The IntuVueTM 3-D weather radar is part of a full suite of latest technology avionics that Tiger Airways has purchased from Honeywell in a multi-million dollar contract. They will be installed on the next 30 Tiger Airways aircraft to be delivered, with an option to extend the arrangement to cover a further 20 aircraft. These 50 Airbus A320 aircraft are scheduled for delivery from later this year till 2015. Existing Tiger Airways aircraft are already fitted with the other systems in Honeywell’s suite of avionics systems.

Tony Davis, President and Group CEO of Tiger Airways Holdings, said, “By partnering with Honeywell to provide a full suite of the latest technology avionics for our aircraft, we realise both operational and cost efficiencies. We are looking forward to serving our ever increasing numbers of passengers with these new aircraft fitted with not only the latest advanced weather radar systems from Honeywell, but also other enhancements such as leather seats. These enhancements will allow us to reduce our already low, low fares even further, and attract even more passengers.”

Honeywell’s full avionics suite includes an Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU), Flight Management System (FMS), IntuVue 3-D advanced weather radar, next generation Aircraft Collision and Avoidance System (ACAS), solid state Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), HF Radio and Airline Operational Communication (AOC) software.

Honeywell’s IntuVue weather radar has been selected for more than 2,000 aircraft. It is standard equipment on the Airbus A380 and A350 as part of the Aircraft Environment Surveillance System. Deliveries are expected to start with the single aisle A320 family (A318, A319, A320 and A321) in the second quarter of 2010, with selection on the long range A330s and A340s, including freighters, in the first quarter of 2011.

Honeywell’s IntuVue is certified and flying on the Boeing 777 and 737NG as buyer furnished equipment. IntuVue has been flying on the C-17 military transport since 2004. It is specified as standard equipment on the Gulfstream G650 when it enters service.

Honeywell’s FMS helps pilots navigate the skies with increased safety and efficiency, providing pilots real-time information on speed, altitude and progress along the flight plan. EGPWS, invented by Honeywell, provides terrain display and alerts the flight crew if the aircraft approaches too close to terrain. Honeywell’s patented ACAS provides a display of surrounding aircraft and alerts the flight crew if another aircraft comes too close for safety. Solid state data and voice recorders record flight data parameters and cockpit voice conversation for analysis. The AOC provides communications management functionality across multiple aircraft platforms.

Honeywell equipment available on Airbus aircraft include fuel controls, auxiliary power unit, electric power systems, communication/navigation radios, traffic/ground/weather surveillance systems, flight management system, inertial navigation systems, environmental control systems, wheels, brakes, and exterior LED lighting.