EBACE 2013 appears to have been a successful show all round, upholding its reputation as the must-attend event of the private aviation calendar. The atmosphere this year was one of cautious optimism, but one also firmly rooted in the realist understanding of the industry needing to take action to bring itself out of the doldrums. EBACE exhibitor and attendee numbers are once again approaching those of the pre-slump levels, with just short of 12,700 attendees descending upon Geneva this year over the three days, hailing from 99 different countries, to visit over 50 aircraft on the ramp outside and 460 indoor stands… one of which was that of Stratajet.
Stratajet’s second year exhibiting was a great success. Coming from being a relative unknown in 2012, this year Stratajet secured a spot in the main exhibition hall amongst the big boys. Testament to the power of word of mouth and curiosity, the stand was teeming with a steady flow of visitors who had heard about what we were doing and looking to learn more. The concept for the stand, a cross between an Apple “Genius” bar (to show off the technology) and a pub (to keep the inevitable 4 o’clock thirst quenched), was to showcase all the different aspects of what Stratajet has been developing under its hat for the past couple of years.
Stratajet’s mission is to bring together all elements of the industry under one roof, through integrated technology, in order to dramatically improve efficiency. Our offering culminates in an online booking system and search engine for private aviation, akin to the likes of Skyscanner and Expedia in the commercial airline sector.
The exhibition marked the anticipated release of our Stratafleet software to charter companies Europe-wide, following beta testing over the past year with 6 UK charter companies. Stratafleet integrates automatically with the online booking platform Stratajet.com, so that operators can easily market their aircraft (for free) directly to consumers. Automatic integration with the platform and with existing scheduling software means there is no unnecessary duplication of data for operators, so no time wasted. The software also provides users with useful add-on features, for sales, ops and management, including an accurate real-time quoting module, weather tracking and features analysing utilisation and profit.
The next product Stratajet showcased was a neat piece of innovative technology we developed in-house, called Stratatracer. As the world’s first real-time tracking system that uses Mode S rather than ADSB, it unsurprisingly turned a few heads. The web-based programme shows live positioning information for pretty much anything that flies – since everything from a BBJ to a hot air balloon is required to have a Mode S transponder on board. On a simple map (grey scale, of course, as with everything at Stratajet!) it translates publically available Mode-S transmissions and triangulates the position by time-stamping the signal with 10-9 seconds accuracy. With the maths done and this prototype proven for the south of England, we have high hopes for the Stratatracer technology to cause a bit of a stir in the private aircraft tracking space.
EBACE also saw the launch of the prototype handling and FBO portal, StrataFBO. (Yes, we realise, too many Strata-things – but they serve the purpose!) In the interest of meeting private jet customers’ demand for more transparency and choice, the Stratajet.com booking platform puts the decision of which terminal services are required at their fingertips. In a couple of clicks customers can see the options for handling agents/FBOs at an airfield, the variation of services and facilities they provide, together with prices for that specific trip. At the behest of interested FBOs and handling agents, we have developed StrataFBO, the portal which integrates with the end user platform. Now handling agents and FBOs can manage and control how their customers see them; it allows them to upload all kinds of marketing materials and update their own prices for packages and services accordingly.
Finally, Jonathan Nicol, Founder and Managing Director of Stratajet, was also invited to speak on the closing panel of the EBACE 2013 conference schedule, alongside other companies seeking to provide IT solutions to private aviation’s inefficiencies. Marking the first time IT solutions have ever been given airtime at EBACE, the panel gave rise to a number of important discussions on what the future of private aviation looks like; how the roles of brokers and intermediaries like Avinode need to change if we are to succeed in reshaping the industry, reallocating capacity and reclaiming market share from the scheduled airline sector; and the importance of challenging current distribution channels and of bringing transparency to pricing for end users. Unsurprisingly, all panellists agreed that the industry must progress to pull itself out of the current inertia, and all look forward to the inevitable day when IT solutions are the norm rather than the exception in private aviation, just as has happened in every other industry over the past two decades.
Indeed, Privatefly CEO Adam Twidell’s concluding promise of “the geeks” opening the show in 2014, is one we at Stratajet are also working hard to ensure is a reality.