AFI KLM E&M and Virgin Atlantic Airways have agreed a deal to deploy the Prognos predictive maintenance solution for its 17-strong fleet of B787 based in Britain.

The Prognos solution was developed to help airlines optimise the value generated by maintenance programmes in both operationally and economically.

Advanced data monitoring will add “an extra element of foresight” into the planning of component and equipment maintenance, said AFI KLM E&M.

The application can predict components and systems failures up to 50 flights before they occur, which allows repair or replacement to be planned and avoid having to take aircraft out of operation.

Prognos will supplement the Component Support services AFI KLM E&M has been providing to Virgin Atlantic since 2014, which are already designed to guarantee optimum aircraft availability and maximum coverage for the airline’s 787 fleet.

Neil Ambidge, vice president engineering and maintenance at Virgin Atlantic Airways, said: “Predictive maintenance is a paradigm shift for the industry and holds major potential for an operator like Virgin Atlantic.

“AFI KLM E&M has developed advance expertise in this field and an acclaimed tool in Prognos, which already harnesses valuable amounts of data from the 787 fleets operated by Air France-KLM and its other customers.

“Virgin Atlantic will now be able to rely on this program to further enhance the reliability of our operation for our customers, whilst also generating efficiencies we can benefit from.

Pierre Teboul, senior vice president commercial at AFI KLM E&M, added: “We’re honoured and delighted that Virgin Atlantic is pursuing its long-standing shared history with AFI KLM E&M.

“Our innovative Prognos program is being taken up by more and more of our airline customers, with each one enhancing the tool’s effectiveness by enriching the data sets available. The tool is becoming a natural addition to standard support solutions, in order to maximize the value generated by maintenance operations.”