Aireon went into operation in April 2019.

About Aireon
Aireon is a US LLC. Its business strategy is based on the sale of air traffic surveillance data, mainly to ANSPs but also to others, including airlines and flight handling companies.

A total of 75 Aireon ADS-B-equipped satellites have been placed in orbit in recent years. The last ten were launched in January 2019. The path has now been paved for the world’s first space-based global air traffic surveillance system to go live in the course of 2019, allowing ATCOs and other aviation stakeholders to track flight movements in real time across the globe for the first time ever. Until now, ground-based surveillance equipment has only been able to cover approximately 30 per cent of the globe, meaning that ATCOs have relied exclusively on the periodic position, course, altitude and speed updates from pilots to track outside of radar coverage.

The far more precise surveillance data that will be available in the future will mean that use of the airspace over oceans and remote areas can be opti-mised and that air traffic can be managed far more efficiently than before. This, in turn, will mean considerable fuel savings for airlines, resulting in significant environmental benefits in the form of reduced emissions from aircraft.

NAV Canada estimates that airlines en route over the North Atlantic will make fuel savings of at least DKK 650 million in total. Airspace capacity will also increase, creating space for the anticipated considerable growth in air traffic anticipated by the aviation industry.

In addition, the Aireon system will contribute to improvements in the safety area, as in the future aircraft will be far less likely to vanish without a trace like Air France Flight 447 in June 2009.

Aireon has signed final agreements on the sale of surveillance data with customers in several countries, and potential customers in a number of countries have expressed an interest in entering into final agreements when the system goes live.

Naviair is one of the partners in Aireon, with a 4.4 per cent ownership interest, and is thus among the global frontrunners when it comes to developing aviation. The other owners are the US telecommunications company Iridium Communications Inc. (35.8%) and the ANSPs NAV Canada (37.2%), ENAV (9.1%) the IAA (4.4%), and UK NATS (9.1%) as the most recent ANSP to join the group of owners.