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November 5th, 2018

Now Live for Global Flight Tracking is GlobalBeacon from Aireon and FlightAware


Aireon LLC and FlightAware have announced that GlobalBeaconSM is live and providing airlines with global flight tracking ahead of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS) recommendations, which will be effective November 8, 2018 — GlobalBeacon provides airlines with minute-by-minute global aircraft tracking for their aircraft at all times, anywhere in the world.

GlobalBeacon is a first of its kind, turnkey solution that surpasses GADSS standards and recommended practices for flight tracking. By combining FlightAware’s data processing platform and web-interface, with Aireon’s space-based ADS-B network, GlobalBeacon transcends borders and Flight Information Regions (FIRs) and eliminates coverage gaps in polar airspace, over deserts and in oceanic regions. At the heart of GlobalBeacon’s capability is an aggregation of tracking information from Aireon’s space-based ADS-B network and FlightAware’s contextual flight data — including origin, destination, flight plan route and estimated time of arrival (ETA).

Now live, GlobalBeacon enables airlines of all sizes to proactively position themselves to respond in the event of an emergency. It facilitates communication between the aircraft operator and the controller with constant fleet monitoring, automated distress alerts and tools that make it easy to share information.

A GlobalBeacon infovideo is available at this direct link...

Executive Comments

 

Aireon CEO, Don Thoma, said that FlightAware and Aireon announced the development of GlobalBeacon back in September of 2016. Now, only days away from when the ICAO GADSS recommendations for flight tracking going into effect, the company has a live solution that exceeds the recommendations for 2018 and also includes the components already ahead of the requirements for 2021. Aireon is extremely proud of this partnership with FlightAware and, through this partnership, space-based ADS-B is already operational through many airlines and aircraft operators.

 

FlightAware CEO, Daniel Baker, added that the company provides a cost-effective and easy-to-deploy solution that exceeds all GADSS standards and recommended practices for flight tracking. Designed to work in conjunction with existing processes and tools commonly used by aircraft operators, the solution is easy to implement and use with any airline size. By leveraging existing ADS-B technology, GlobalBeacon has a unique advantage over other potential solutions because, typically, no new hardware or equipment needs to be installed on or in the aircraft.