Cathay Pacific Signs as ARINC's Launch Customer for New Iridium Voice Phone SolutionNovember 21, 2006Annapolis, Maryland—The Asia Pacific Division of ARINC Incorporated today announced a contract with Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong Kong to provide an Iridium-based voice telephone solution for the carrier’s expanding cargo fleet. Cathay Pacific becomes the first commercial airline customer for ARINC’s Iridium service. ARINC will install its cost-effective Iridium satellite voice telephone solution on seven Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-200 series aircraft under a Supplemental Type Certificate developed in cooperation with the carrier. The ARINC Iridium voice solution uses a compact avionics package and antenna from ICG, the International Communications Group of Newport News, Virginia. ARINC conducted an aircraft survey and directed the first Cathay Pacific avionics installation at a facility in Xiamen, China. With Iridium voice service Cathay Pacific flight crews will have significantly improved clarity and reliability in communicating with their Integrated Operations Center (IOC) from remote areas of their routes. “When our freighters are out of VHF range, flight crews will just pick up a phone and make a call to the IOC, or vice-versa. They may want to request a diversion or alert ground support to some maintenance issues,” said Russell Davie, Flight Operations General Manager, Cathay Pacific. “The ability to communicate efficiently will translate into significant savings that will pay for our investment in the equipment.” Randy Pizzi, ARINC Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, said “We are extremely pleased to be selected by Cathay Pacific as a one-stop solution for Iridium services, and we look forward to working closely with them through project completion.” Cathay Pacific Airways operates a fleet of 18 freighters to 28 global destinations, and has ordered 8 new aircraft for 2007-2009 delivery. It recently announced plans to build and operate a third air cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport, underlining its aggressive expansion of cargo services. Cathay Pacific was voted Skytrax Airline of the Year in 2005. For more information, visit the web site at www.cathaypacific.com/cgo. The Iridium constellation of 66 low-earth-orbiting, cross-linked satellites is the largest commercial satellite constellation in the world. Iridium serves a range of industries from maritime, aviation, and government/military to transportation and utilities. Iridium also designs, builds and sells services, products and solutions through a worldwide network of more than 100 partners. For more information, visit the web site at www.iridium.com. International Communications Group, Inc. (ICG) of Newport News, Va. is an industry leader in mobile communications integration, automation and management systems, and provides products and solutions for aeronautical voice and data services to general aviation, aerospace, military, and maritime industries. ICG is a major Iridium value-added manufacturer and has a wide range of Iridium-based solutions for mobile satellite communications. For more information, visit the web site at www.icg.aero. ARINC Incorporated is the world leader in transportation communications and systems engineering. The company develops and operates communications and information processing systems and provides systems engineering and integration solutions to five key industries: airports, aviation, defense, government, and surface transportation. Founded to provide reliable and efficient radio communications for the airlines, ARINC is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and operates key regional offices in London and Singapore, with over 3,200 employees worldwide. ARINC is ISO 9001:2000 certified. Release: 06-91 Corporate Communications |
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