Airways New Zealand and US-based The MITRE Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration opportunities for improving aviation safety, capacity and efficiency throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Airways NZ and MITRE collaborate to support aviation in Asia Pacific

The strategic partnership, which was formalised today between Airways International CEO Sharon Cooke and Gregg Leone, MITRE Vice President and Director of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, sets the foundation for collaboration between the two organisations in the areas of aviation research and development, and addressing aviation challenges in the Asia Pacific region.

MITRE is a U.S. not-for-profit research and development company whose mission is to advance the safety, security, and efficiency of aviation in the U.S. and worldwide in collaboration with the aviation community. MITRE has been supporting the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for over 55 years and operates the FAA’s only federally funded research and development center (FFRDC).

Airways International CEO Sharon Cooke says the partnership enables Airways and MITRE to combine their expertise to support comprehensive aviation initiatives throughout Asia Pacific, and draw on the organisations’ shared capabilities to deliver advanced solutions.

“Airways is excited to be partnering with MITRE to collaborate on delivering aviation projects in Asia Pacific,” said Ms Cooke. “Our organisations have a great deal of experience and expertise that we can share to our mutual advantage and for the benefit of the aviation sector in this region.”

MITRE Vice President Gregg Leone says: “We are delighted to formalise our relationship with Airways to better support aviation growth and efficiency in the Asia Pacific region. The partnership brings together the best in class advanced research, big data analytics, system development, and air navigation operations to solve immediate needs in the region.”

MITRE and Airways are already in discussions regarding two potential airspace projects which would benefit from their complementary capabilities and experiences in maximising runway capacity, and advanced airspace and procedure design.

The strategic partnership agreement further strengthens the existing relationship between the two organisations. Recently, Aeropath, the Airways subsidiary which provides aeronautical information management and navigation services, supported MITRE in carrying out projects at Changi Airport in Singapore. Airways also previously collaborated with MITRE for 10 years on implementing a new air traffic management system for Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration.