Lufthansa Technik to fit auto surveillance transponders in A320 Family

December 2, 2017: In an attempt to make flying safer and traceable, Lufthansa Technik AG will equip its first Airbus A320 Family aircraft with second generation Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponders by 2020.

According to reports, Lufthansa Technik has received the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to modify and fit ADS-B transponders in its first Airbus A320 aircraft.

The completion of the modification has been prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by 2020.

Earlier, aviation authorities had recommended that, in the future, all aircraft should be traced using GPS-based aircraft data.

Reports suggest that Lufthansa Technik is ready to equip its customer aircraft with the new transponders that fulfills the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (DO-260 B RTCA) standard.

As compared to the conventional surface-based radar monitoring, the new technology is expected to considerably enhance the localisation of aircraft and the airspace safety.

“We can offer our customers with proper ADS-B modifications having original manufacture components and regulatory approvals,” said Thomas Rueckert, vice president-base maintenance services of Lufthansa Technik AG.

Interestingly, there has been a significant global demand for ADS-B modifications, which has resulted in capacity issues at several overhaul facilities.

To mitigate the difficulty, Lufthansa Technik has offered viable options to enhance the performance of modification. It has deployed mobile installation teams that can work anywhere across the globe, with barely three independent night stops to avoid long ground time and high cost.