Andrew Doyle/MUNICH
Airbus is pushing for a consolidation of Europe's flight support service providers as part of an effort to stave off the competitive threat posed by Boeing's recent acquisition of dominant industry player Jeppesen. The French Government meanwhile continues to raise anti-trust concerns over the Boeing/Jeppesen deal.
The European manufacturer is looking to reduce its reliance on Jeppesen amid concerns over the Boeing subsidiary's access to proprietary performance data for Airbus aircraft, according to industry sources. The data is used by Jeppesen to provide flight planning services to its airline customers.
In the longer-term Airbus is looking to partner with an independent provider for products such as electronic navigation charts and data to support its "paperless cockpit" technology, the sources add.
Europe's flight support sector has been fragmented by the break-up of the former KSSA grouping, which tied together Air France, KLM, SAS and Swissair.
SAS Flight Support has since decided to form an alliance with Lufthansa-owned Lido, which Air France and KLM are also expected to join, while Swissair Flight Support is operating independently.
Avionics giant Thales recently acquired Racal, which produces navigation data and supplies charts to British Airways. The French company is understood to be close to finalising an industry partnership, but has declined to comment on its plans.
Airbus has held informal talks with several of the European providers to evaluate their capabilities and discuss options for co-operation, say the sources.
Jeppesen meanwhile rejects any suggestion that the Airbus data it holds could be accessed for commercial reasons by its parent company in breach of "Chinese walls".
The US company has nevertheless agreed to install hardware in Toulouse to allow Airbus to hold the proprietary data in house, though Jeppesen will still have access via a network connection.
Another issue to be resolved is France's failure to approve Boeing's Jeppesen take-over on anti-trust grounds, though it must reach a final decision by 5 March.
Fellow Airbus nations Germany, Spain and the UK also raised anti-trust concerns but have since given the deal the green light.
Boeing is combining Jeppesen with businesses it has acquired in the maintenance software and air traffic control technology sectors to form a new division with the working title "Boeing Information Services Group".
Source: Flight International
