The companies hope to deploy data analytics at airports to reduce CO2 emissions and cut fuel costs
SITA, a provider of IT and telecommunications services for the aviation industry, has announced the acquisition of Safety Line SAS, a start-up specialising in digital solutions for aviation safety.
According to the companies, air transport accounts for 3% of worldwide carbon emissions, placing growing pressure on airports and airlines to make operations more sustainable.
With this acquisition, SITA hopes to enhance the development of environmental solutions that can be integrated at hubs internationally.
This new contract follows the commercial partnership initiated by the two companies in September last year, which focussed on helping airlines reduce CO2 emissions. This was done using ‘OptiFlight’, a predictive fuel efficiency solution for aircraft.
“We were impressed with the way Safety Line have been able to transform the research from their data science team into real-life applications thanks to innovation partnerships with strategic airline customers such as Transavia or Air France or airports such as Group ADP,” said Sebastien Fabre, CEO of SITA for aircraft. “Through our existing partnership, we have already delivered real value to our customers and this acquisition fits perfectly with SITA’s approach of partnering and co-innovating with our customers to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. We are excited to welcome the Safety Line team to SITA.”
It is expected that Safety Line’s ‘AirsideWatch’ will allow SITA to expand its airports offering to airside operations by using surface radar data to gain a better understand of ground traffic between gates and runways.
The acquisition also covers ‘SafetyCube’ – a solution allowing stakeholders to manage safety and compliance. Key customers include large airports such as Paris/Charles de Gaulle and Paris/Orly, as well as airlines and ATM providers.
