Gulf Air latest to adopt iPad electronic flight bags

Gulf Air CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam (center) signs agreement for iPad EFB deployment.

Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain's flagship air carrier, announced last week the adoption of an iPad-based electronic flight bag program in cooperation with local telecommunications provider VIVA Bahrain.

Spotted by AppleInsider reader Hussain, the carrier's plan to roll out its iPad EFB program was revealed in a meeting on Sunday that covered Gulf Air's Information and Communication Technology initiatives. In all, 355 iPads will be purchased and distributed throughout the airline's fleet.

"We are proud of our existing strategic relationship with VIVA Bahrain and pleased to extend this partnership to include the provision of iPad devices as part of Gulf Air's Electronic Flight Bag project," said Gulf Air Acting CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam. "This is an essential component of our ongoing commitment to all new technology that provides integrated solutions for managing information in the air and on the ground."

While not as massive a rollout as major airlines like American, which now has more than 8,000 iPads issued as EFBs throughout its fleet, the Gulf Air buy reinforces the impact Apple's tablet is having on a wide variety of industries. For air travel, the device replaces heavy kitbags traditionally carried by pilots and crew, saving weight and thus fuel.

"At Gulf Air we always endeavor to leverage the latest technologies in order to improve the efficiency of the airline's operations and provide better services to our passengers," said Gulf Air Director Information Technology, Dr. Jassim Haji. This collaboration ensures we deliver the latest technology to our team and, as a result, to our passengers."

Along with commercial airlines, the U.S. Air Force is also using iPad EFBs to cut down on fuel costs. It was estimated that the switch to paperless flight bags will save the branch's cargo unit some $750,000 in fuel and $5 million in printing costs per year. The Air Force said it plans to save $50 million with its deployment of 18,000 iPads over the next ten years.

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17 Comments

sflocal

said about 9 years ago

Yep... when reliability and durability is an absolute must, there's only one tablet I'd want in that flight deck when heavy, paper manuals are no longer used. Trusting one's flight manuals to some trash Android tablet is like rolling dice. No thank you.

electrotech

said about 9 years ago

I am totally surprised. Samsung rules in the Gulf region and especially in Saudi. It is difficult to believe that they adopted a superior device when they could have had a slightly cheaper much less reliable piece of Samsung buggy hesitating junk that they all accept as 'the standard'. At least in Qatar, they use a fair amount of iPhones but Samsung is ubiquitous. Apple doesn't allow 'bucksheesh' to be used and would likely have been dropped from the bid while Samsung almost exclusively uses 'incentives' to entice buyers. Samsung morality is substantially different from that stated in the Koran and yet they are given preference in the middle east.

apple ][

said about 9 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by sflocal

Trusting one's flight manuals to some trash Android tablet is like rolling dice. No thank you.

Definitely. If an airline is so cheap that they would skimp on such vital equipment merely to save a few bucks, then that's definitely no airline that I'd want to be flying with.

I can understand why certain people buy Android tablets. They're cheap (cheap junk for the most part), and not everybody has money to spend on something proper, but airlines certainly do, and there's simply no excuse for them not to.

It makes you wonder, what else would an airline be skimping on, if an airline was skimping on their tablets and using Android? Are the rivets in the wings second hand rivets bought from a shady used rivets salesman with a mullet? It's all about saving a buck, isn't it?

macky the macky

said about 9 years ago

As far as I know there are no airlines using Android tablets for flight bag replacements. Only Delta Airlines uses MS Surfaces due to some photos locked in Bill Gates safe. Every other outfit that's gone electronic use iPads.

nasserae

said about 9 years ago

[quote name="ElectroTech" url="/t/179835/gulf-air-latest-to-adopt-ipad-electronic-flight-bags#post_2536441"]I am totally surprised. Samsung rules in the Gulf region and especially in Saudi. It is difficult to believe that they adopted a superior device when they could have had a slightly cheaper much less reliable piece of Samsung buggy hesitating junk that they all accept as 'the standard'. At least in Qatar, they use a fair amount of iPhones but Samsung is ubiquitous. Apple doesn't allow 'bucksheesh' to be used and would likely have been dropped from the bid while Samsung almost exclusively uses 'incentives' to entice buyers. Samsung morality is substantially different from that stated in the Koran and yet they are given preference in the middle east.[/quote] The problem in the Gulf region is there is no official Apple retail presence. Only third party retailers and they suck. In most Gult countries, foreign businesses need to have a citizen partner with 51% ownership to conduct business. You probably already know that. Like you said, Samsung is everywhere there mainly because they have authorize agents and they let them do whatever they want as long as they sell Samsung products.