1. FANS-1/A in Asia ATN 2002 - The ATC Data link Conference
Owen Dell
Manager International Operations, Cathay Pacific Airways
24 September 2002

2. Hong Kong is our home
Fleet ~ 80 airframes - B747/777; A340/330

3. FANS-1/A in Asia
ICAO Air Navigation Commission approved the CNS/ATM concept in 1993 and accepted FANS-1/A as an interim system
Cathay Pacific was a FANS-1 pioneer
Almost 10 years later only 65% of the CX fleet is FANS-1/A equipped - Why??

4. FANS-1/A in Asia
Total cost benefit to CX for FANS-1/A (ground and airborne):
-$?,000,000
(e.g. One recent month - USD9,000 in datalink communication charges for ADS reports requested by one ATS provider!!)

5. FANS-1/A in Asia
A positive cost benefit has been established in the Pacific - this has not occurred in Asia
Proliferation of ADS/CPDLC facilities in Asia at various stages of implementation with some duplicating radar coverage - (China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

6. FANS-1/A in Asia
In the Pacific great effort has been made to ensure a co-ordinated implementation - e.g. FITs/CRA
No such effort has been made in Asia
FANS Action Team for the Bay of Bengal (FAT-BOB) established - only one meeting several years ago

7. FANS-1/A in Asia
Hopefully things are about to change
ICAO to revitalise FAT-BOB and form a similar group for the Western Pacific/South China Sea area
IATA has recently made ADS/CPDLC implementation in Asia a formal priority at a regional level

8. FANS-1/A in Asia
However still several years away from meaningful ATC applications using ADS/CPDLC
In the meantime we continue to wrestle with issues which could easily be solved using ADS/CPDLC - e.g. large scale weather deviations and poor HF communications performance

9. FANS-1/A in Asia
Circular argument - full benefits not available until all aircraft are equipped - all aircraft will not be equipped until benefits are demonstrated and routinely available
No positive business case now or in the foreseeable future to retrofit the remaining 35% of the CX fleet

10. Meanwhile technology development continues unabated
FANS-1/A in Asia
Meanwhile technology development continues unabated
ADS-B, CDTI, TIS-B, Synthetic Vision
It is critical for "end users" to help guide the development and implementation of technologies and ensure they meet industry needs - how many operators on today’s programme?

11. FANS-1/A in Asia
The challenge for all is to develop a strong positive cost benefit, using technology that works and is easily interoperable in the environment of Asia’s ATS providers
If this does not happen CNS/ATM will not move forward in Asia regardless of the march of technology

12. THANK YOU