Integration of Embraer 195 in Air Europa's datalink and development of new applications

Abstract

This project is an End-of-Studies thesis of an ENAC student performed in the Spanish airline Air Europa in Palma de Mallorca. It deals with the integration in terms of datalink of a new aircraft type in airline’s fleet, the Embraer 195, and with the development of new applications that make use of this new technology. The project starts with a brief introduction to aviation communication and datalink in particular, focusing in Air Europa’s trajectory until present situation. This complex domain is undergoing severe changes in recent years so all involved parties are detail introduced for a smooth understanding of following chapters. Likewise, a short presentation of Embraer’s modular avionics is presented. It follows the description of the steps taken and the problems encountered that led to have all Embraer messages correctly managed from its initial situation where only four messages where processed. Once familiar with the aircraft avionics, ground systems and datalink environment, three cases of datalink data integration are presented, highlighting the difficulties that arose in the process. The intermediate conclusions drawn in this part –some functions are missing in Embraer’s datalink- led to the customization of Embraer’s onboard datalink application, a complex process that benefitted from the fact that changing onboard’s datalink was inevitable given the circumstances. Finally, a short mention of AIRE test flights is included as it is the most innovative application of datalink. Key