As the EASA deadline for upgrading to Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) approaches, Duncan Aviation reminds European operators to plan for their installation as soon as possible. Owners and operators who need to retrofit their aircraft have until midnight on 6 June, 2020 to meet the terms of the mandate. Aircraft must be equipped with a GPS position source, such as a certified WAAS GPS antenna, and a 1090-megahertz Mode S Extended squitter transponder to relay the information to air traffic control.

Duncan Aviation is encouraging its European, Middle Eastern and African-based (EMEA) customers to contact its alliance partner JetSupport in Amsterdam in the Netherlands to schedule their upgrades so as to avoid the last-minute rush. As the deadline nears, hangar space and skilled avionics technicians will be at a premium and costs will likely rise.

The company also points out that after midnight on 31 December, 2019 aircraft must have functioning ADS-B equipment if they intend to fly in US airspace. The FAA's ADS-B mandate deadline is several months earlier than the EASA deadline.

For its European-based customers who are planning to travel to the United States, Duncan Aviation has satellite avionics shops and workaway stations located at busy airports throughout the US; its skilled avionics technicians have already performed hundreds of upgrades.

Recently, Duncan Aviation's engineering and certification department received approvals from three civil aviation authorities for its supplemental type certificates ST01810WI and ST01811 that upgrade the Honeywell Primus II system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast-Out (ADS-B Out) in Cessna 560/560XL and Hawker 800/800XP aircraft, respectively. Approved by the FAA in December 2015, the STCs have also been accepted by Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA), Mexico's Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC), and the 32 member nations of EASA.

Additionally, its engineering and certification department has been developing STCs for various equipment and aircraft to give aircraft ownersand operators as much choice regarding ADS-B equipment as possible. The company now holds or has access to 42 STCs for FAA-approved ADS-B equipment, which allows the company to perform upgrades on more than 100 aircraft models.