Shanghai, China - China's state-run operator China Eastern Airlines added the first Airbus A350 jet fitted with large touchscreen displays in the cockpit.
The aircraft with registration B-30CW is the first A350-900, (MSN373) with this option.
Last year the European airframer was testing touchscreen displays on an Airbus A350-1000. The system was finally certified by EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) last month.
The system developed by Thales is offered as an option to the customers. Around 20 operators around the globe opted for Airbus's touchscreen avionics.
Three of the six 15.4in screens in the A350 cockpit can be adapted to include touchscreens. These include the two outermost screens – which normally show electronic flightbag information – and the lower of the two central screens, which normally contains the multi-function display.
Airbus test pilot Jean-Michel Roy says the electronic flightbag display can be swapped, through a single button-push, with the multi-function display. With the flightbag on the central touchscreen, both pilots are able to interact simultaneously with its features.
While A380 crews interacted with the flightbag through an integrated keyboard, the A350 also introduced a keyboard-cursor control unit – which includes a trackball to navigate a cursor between screens.
Roy says the touchscreen brings a third method of interaction for the crew.
This allows the pilot to be more efficient, avoiding having to move a cursor between four displays all the time,
he states.
Allowing both pilots to interact with the electronic flightbag reduces workload, he adds, simplifies cockpit management during demanding stages of the flight, including take-off performance calculation, en route chart access, and preparation for approach.
The center display can be controlled by both pilots – whereas before, only the one which had selected it could interact,