Story ID: 
Arinc adding new customers in EMEA area
By: Ian Sheppard
Caption: Arinc Direct’s flight planning solution is now supporting more than 150 aircraft in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region–over 100 more than at 
Word Count: 320
Arinc Direct’s flight planning solution is now supporting more than 150 aircraft in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region–over 100 more than at the time of EBACE 2007, said the company.
“Quite literally Arinc is adding new customers week after week, representing the charter operators and corporate flight departments that are household names in the European industry,” said Bob Richard, senior director of Arinc Direct.
The growth has been fueled by demand from Germany, Spain and the Middle East in particular. For example, DC Aviation, part of Cirrus Group, has contracted Arinc Direct for a fleet-wide solution covering both communications and datalink services; and Spanish national airline Iberia is using Arinc Direct to upload its flight plans so that business aviation users can access them via datalink.
Arinc Direct (Booth No. 1553) is also promoting three other services at EBACE: near real-time access to satellite call data; its eXchange on-board Internet solution; and Oi, an onboard Internet solution for passengers using laptops.
Access to satellite call data is provided via an Arinc Direct user account accessed on the Internet to monitor the use of direct dial services using Iridium and Inmarsat Aero.
eXchange is a high-speed Internet service offered in conjunction with Rockwell Collins, as hardware provider, and was installed on a Cessna Citation X early this month. Arinc described it as “the only Ku-band connectivity solution available for business jets”; the result being the ability to access e-mail, corporate intranets, the Internet and VoIP services–plus data connectivity for Wi-Fi enabled devices. Arinc’s SKYLink offers seamless broadband across North America and most of Europe, with other coverage being added through 2008.
Oi is an onboard solution allowing airline passengers to surf the Internet on their laptop as they would at home, and ARINC Direct says that the business aviation community is also interested in Oi.