Cincinnati, Ohio-based Argus International aviation research group (Booth U90) has enhanced its popular Traqpak product to include a free version that offers live flight tracking and seven days worth of historical aircraft movement data for fixed base operators and aviation service providers, as well as maintenance operations, and third-party fuel providers.

The new product, announced this week at EBACE 2019, is a “lite” version of Argus' Traqpak FBO and Fleet products, which are web-based aircraft movement intelligence tools that include live flight tracking with fully integrated functionality integrated with historical aircraft activity data and analysis, FlightView aircraft movement data, ADS-B tracking, Eurocontrol’s European flight data, and Ascend aircraft owner/operator contact information.

“Beyond the aircraft tracking our free tool provides an FBO or MRO with nearby airport activity, so they can see inbounds and possible competitor activity. We see it as a marketing tool, to view what is going on in the local aviation area,” Argus International CEO Joe Moeggenberg told AIN. “The OEMs and MROs use the info as a market intelligence tool to see how their aircraft are competing as far as flight hours. It also gives really good utilization info on individual aircraft,” he explained, noting that the product is expanding rapidly into the European market.

Moggenberg also commented on the growth of Argus’ five-year-old charter broker certification program in Europe. The program is designed to confirm to clients that a charter broker is a legitimate business entity, understands and adheres to industry best practices, and is committed to safety and service.

“The majority of the brokers right now are in North America, but Europe is becoming our largest growing market. Having our registered broker or certified broker designation gives the flying public a lot of information about the broker and shows they are legitimate,” he said. “In creating the program, we worked closely with BACA-The Air Charter Association in that program and use their code of ethics.”

Argus is approaching its 25th birthday and has branched out from safety audits for business and commercial aviation into unmanned services, with the purchase of the Unmanned Safety Institute in 2016. “The unmanned space is growing so rapidly. We have trained more than 7,000 UAV pilots as part of this program, and we expect that demand to grow with the publication of regulation for beyond-line-of-site UAV operation,” said Moggenberg.