Air bp is rolling out its digital Airfield Automation technology at Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA), located at Al Maktoum International airport in Dubai and the first location in the region to benefit from the new technology.

Established by the airline Emirates to train pilots, EFTA opened in December 2017 and currently offers a fleet of 22 Cirrus SR22 training aircraft and five Embraer Phenom 100EV business jets. Air bp was the first to fuel EFTA's aircraft when it fuelled two Cirrus SR22 training aircraft as part of its contract to supply the new Academy with Avgas.

The rollout of Airfield Automation at EFTA is part of a global programme by Air bp; the technology is already live at more than 100 airports in 13 countries on four continents, most recently at its locations in Greece at Megara, Syros, Ioannina King Pyrros and Sitia airports. More than 45,000 over-wing fuellings have been completed where fuelling operators and customers have benefited from the misfuel prevention technology. It is anticipated that it will be fully operational at around 350 locations globally by the end of 2020.

Airfield Automation is a cloud-based platform designed to help prevent misfuelling by means of an engineering barrier. It helps to deliver enhanced safety, reliability and compliance in airport fuelling operations, and enables Air bp to provide data in real time to airline customers. It is the first commercially deployed system of its kind in the world.

The platform consolidates the data related to airport fuelling operations and works via an app on a handheld device in the fuelling vehicles. The 'safe2go' app captures fuel volume readings and provides fuel grade checks to add an additional misfuelling barrier. It then electronically captures customer details which are confirmed with an electronic signature from the pilot or airline representative. By using this automated, end-to-end, paperless system, accuracy is enhanced and any potential miskeying errors minimised.

Aircraft operators will also benefit from faster, more comprehensive and more accurate fuelling and delivery data. The cloud-based technology will enable Air bp to offer increasingly integrated information to customers, such as delivery records and precise delivery timings.

Air bp Middle East and northern Africa general manager Robert Gerritsen comments: “Our success in the Middle East is based on our track record in safe and reliable operations. Misfuelling is one of the biggest risks we face in our industry. With this new technology, we are providing an engineering barrier to help prevent misfuelling which is good news for our region and good news for our industry.”