Up to 11 EasyJet Airbus A320neo jets are participating in commercial flights this year using the new satellite-based datalink system Iris, which aims to improve air traffic communications in Europe.
EasyJet has become the first airline partner of Iris, which is being spearheaded by the European Space Agency and communications specialist Viasat.
The initiative is intended to address the need for high-bandwidth digital satellite-communications technology to enable real-time optimisation of aircraft trajectories with such features as continual flightplan update.
Current infrastructure in Europe is based on VHF datalink Mode 2 technology which is under capacity strains.
Iris emerged in 2008 as part of the ESA ARTES 10 programme to support satellite-based communication for European air traffic management.
ESA entered a contract with Inmarsat in 2014 for the ‘Iris Precursor’ initiative – involving multiple aerospace partners – to provide upgraded broadband capable of handling the demands of air traffic in dense continental airspace.
The first Iris Precursor test flight was conducted by an Airbus A330-200 operating between Toulouse and the Balearic Islands in February 2016, demonstrating initial 4D trajectory control and controller-pilot datalink exchanges.
Initial end-to-end system testing took place just over two years later, in July 2018, using a Cessna Citation II business jet flying out of Amsterdam, fitted with the programme’s actual avionics rather than previous equipment running simulations.
UK budget carrier EasyJet signed up as Iris’s first airline partner in 2022 and, last year, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency certified ESSP as a technical service provider. ESSP is already the service provider for the European geostationary overlay service EGNOS, and it is supporting 15 air navigation services’ involvement in the Iris initiative.
Iris is using the SwiftBroadband-Safety connectivity platform of Viasat, which took over Inmarsat last year.
“Adopting Iris technology on [our] aircraft will enable EasyJet to fly more directly and efficiently, thereby reducing carbon emissions as well as enhancing our on-time performance,” says EasyJet director of operations and navigation Hugh McConnellogue.
The carrier’s initial flights with the Iris technology put Europe “firmly at the forefront” of digitalisation and modernisation of air traffic management, states ESA acting director of connectivity Javier Benedicto.
He says the next step is to broaden the reach of Iris, through the evolution of Iris Global which will expand the capability to other regions, including Asia, the Middle East and the USA.
ESSP chief Charlotte Neyret says the first commercial flights with EasyJet are “bringing to reality a decade of both vision and investment in this new datalink communication solution”.
“Iris technology allows the development of new environmentally-friendly routes, which will improve air traffic control management, reduce fuel costs and lead to the deployment of more efficient air operations,” she adds.
