As the aviation industry continues to develop at a faster rate, aircraft ground handling requirements are becoming more stringent.
Due to growing passenger traffic and flight schedule density, shortening turnover times is becoming vital for international hubs.
Refueling is a particularly important part of the process with even the smallest discrepancies leading to potential disruption as well as financial and reputational damage for both fuel operators and airlines alike.
Market players need to introduce flexible record keeping systems and adapt to the increasing pace of industry’s digital development.
Gazpromneft Aero is one of global jet fuel operators that is actively introducing new technological solutions to power its operations worldwide.
Russia’s leader in the retail sale of jet fuel is deploying an automated documentation system, which provides real-time control over every stage in the refueling process from receiving aviation kerosene at the station to the refueling on the apron. All data is collected and processed to guarantee continuous improvements to be made in the operational process.
However, various operations still require human intervention, such as first-time post-delivery fuel quality control. But even here the process has been partially digitized to provide a more precise analysis. All Gazpromneft Aero employees are provided with tablets protected by shock and explosion-proof cases.
The devices significantly increase the volume of data we process and this, in turn, helps to increase efficiencies and reduce workload. Thankfully, employees no longer have to calculate fuel mass in tanks, and manually transfer paper documentation into computers.
Refueling activity at the apron has become a key focus for digital innovation. After receiving a request for refueling from an airline, the system processes flight data (flight number, parking lot, planned refueling start time) received from traffic control and sends all necessary information to the wingman’s tablet.
Source: AviationWeek.com
