Sri Lanka state carrier in paperless flight deck ops, PNB

Sept 01, 2012 (LBO) - State-run SriLankan Airlines said it was moving to paperless flight deck operations dropping printed manuals in favour of an electronic flight bag (EFB) based on a mobile electronic device and new navigation procedures. "SriLankan has taken the lead in Asia to revolutionise the flight deck, realising the vision of paperless flying and becoming Asia’s first airline to fly with iPad EFBs’ SriLankan chairman, Nishantha Wickremasinghe said in a statement.

The device contains data from 84 kilograms of paper manuals, helping reduce weight.

The first flight using EFB was operated on Muscat on August 29, the airline said.

The technology is supplied by Fokker Services, a unit of Holland's Fokker Aviation group. Its Fokker iPAD Class 2 installation can be used on Airbus A340, A330 and A320 aircraft.

SriLankan is also moving onto performance based navigation (PNB) a more modern International Civil Aviation Organization navigation procedure that relies less on ground based aids which can shorten flight times, reduce fuel use and increase safety.

"By choosing to implement both PBN and iPAD operations in 2012, SriLankan Airlines clearly shows its culture of continuous innovation," Paul-Franck Bijou, ch