Eight year-old Aircraft Management Technologies (AMT) appears on the brink of reaping the rewards of focusing on the emerging electronic flight bag sector (EFB) - the so-called paperless cockpit.
Based at Malahide, outside Dublin, and with government development agency Enterprise Ireland alongside venture capitalists Delta Partners and Pentech Ventures as shareholders, AMT's 20 staff provide the airborne and ground-based software framework at the heart of the EFB concept.
Its business so far has largely been with carriers such as Thomson Airways of the UK and Neos of Italy, but it is close to more substantial deals in Europe and the Middle East.
A priority is to offer a business model that is viable in a recession when customers struggle with investment.
Chairman Aidan Gallagher says: "There is a very compelling business case in terms of return on investment on EFBs.
"We can provide that, but unfortunately, when you get a recession, even if you can show people where they can save money, they don't necessarily find it easy to get the investment money released.So increasingly we are looking at a pay-as-you-go type structure so you can phase your savings along with the cost."
The classic example is hosting and managing electronic documents such as charts and technical logs on behalf of operators for staged fees.
Gallagher adds: "We are going towards a rental subscription concept and we will be looking at doing that as much as possible, although there will always be some work to be done up front."
More strategically, the aim is to work with large system integrators in order to secure market access.
Gallagher says: "We think we have the best technology in the marketplace. The right way to unlock that is in strategic partnerships. We are cultivating those because we know that is the way to progress."
Source: Flight International
