Gulf Air has rolled out its new generation iPad electronic flight bags which will facilitate the airline's flight-critical communications while increasing operational efficiency and eliminating paper-based flight materials.

As information management devices, electronic flight bags help airline crew perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently, improving operational performance, while minimising paperwork, reducing printing costs, cutting onboard weight and giving faster access to data, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

All Gulf Air pilots are currently undergoing extensive training on the iPad electronic flight bags which will be rolled out across the national carrier's entire fleet by early August.

"We're pleased to finalise a roll-out of iPad electronic flight bags to all Gulf Air pilots over the coming weeks," Gulf Air chief operations officer Captain Nasser Al Salmi said.

"Gulf Air is committed to all new technology that provides integrated solutions for managing information in the air and on the ground, reduces paperwork, increases efficiency and improves access to information for our pilots where it is most needed.

"The iPad electronic flight bags meet that requirement helping bring the technological advances of computer information delivery and management to one centralised point - the cockpit."

Electronic flight bags offer advanced information management and deliver more accurate performance calculations, creating significant time and cost savings while increasing safety and streamlining the management of flight information.

Gulf Air will move from a paper-based flight manual to an electronic process with electronic flight bags rolled out across the fleet within this month. - TradeArabia News Service