Britannia signs £1m IBM laptop deal

Britannia Airways has inked a £1m contract with IBM which will see ThinkPad X24 laptops used in cockpits instead of bulky flight manuals.

The charter airline will provide 430 pilots with the notebook PCs, which will replace up to 20kg of documentation on each flight deck. The aim is to speed up calculations about weight distribution and other flying parameters - keeping information up-to-date by downloading via Wi-Fi links when parked at airports - while also lessening each flight's load.

Britannia reckons it will see a return on its investment within 18 months, brought about by reduced administration costs and less fuel being used.

Iain Andrew, Britannia IT and change director, said the deal is a first for the airline industry.

However, IBM already has contracts with bigger players such as Air France, Alitalia, BA and United, and last year its IBM Global Solutions signed an eight-year services contract with Britannia sister company TUI UK.