(3 April 2007 9:30 pm)

MUMBAI: The Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) is currently installing an advanced on-board satellite television system for India's Kingfisher Airlines' Airbus A320 aircraft.

Gamco installed the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) system on the first Kingfisher aircraft early this year and will complete work on the first batch of the airline's A320s this month.

"This is an industry-first for Gamco in Asia. Kingfisher is the first airline in Asia and the second in the world to install on-board satellite television on Airbus A320, and all of us in Gamco are very proud that this was done at our facilities in Abu Dhabi by our engineers and technicians," Gamco CEO Saif Al Mughairy said.

In-flight entertainment for passengers has until recently focused on a menu of films, pre-recorded television programs and music. DBS systems enable aircraft to receive signals directly to provide passengers access to a full spectrum of satellite video and audio programming. The system installed on Kingfisher aircraft will enable passengers to receive 16 television channels distributed to each passenger seat via the in-flight entertainment system.

"For Gamco, this involved getting the support and cooperation of specialist companies supplying the avionics equipment such as Thales, Rockwell Collins and Armstrong Aerospace, and approvals from regulatory authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, who have all put their stamp of confidence on Gamco's technological capabilities," Al Mughairy said.

"When Kingfisher chose Gamco to install the system, our challenge was to carry out the necessary modifications and test the system to obtain the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) clearance for our customer. We achieved it without any difficulty, reinforcing our ability to offer innovative services for the aviation industry," he added.

Gamco secured the contract to install the DBS system along with another agreement signed with Kingfisher last November to provide maintenance support for the entire Airbus A320s and A319 fleet.