Chronos Technology has designed and installed a GPS repeater solution for Virgin Atlantic’s Engineering Facility at London Heathrow Airport enabling round the clock testing without moving aircraft outside to receive GNSS signals.

Virgin Atlantic’s top priority is the safety and security of its customers and crew, so fleet maintenance and reliability is paramount. The main purpose of the Heathrow Hangar is to keep Virgin Atlantic’s fleet in excellent condition, which involves managing and controlling maintenance tasks on aircraft, to include testing, calibration and essential maintenance which requires the use of the aircrafts’ GNSS systems.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals all transmit at an inherently low signal strength that cannot penetrate most buildings. The installation of a repeater system at Virgin Atlantic’s Heathrow facility has enabled GNSS signals to be always kept live inside the hangar to perform maintenance tasks that require the use of the aircraft’s GNSS systems.

GNSS Site Survey

The Chronos team undertook a detailed site survey to determine that the right repeater technology was selected and correctly installed in the right place to provide optimal inside GNSS coverage and no signal overspill outside the hangar onto the adjacent airport operational areas.

Simon Mason, Senior Design and Development Engineer at Virgin Atlantic commented, “The Virgin Hangar Continuous Improvement team identified that a GNSS Repeater system would eliminate moving aircraft in and out of the hangar to receive the GNSS signal needed for certain testing and function checks. This would save significant time and resources. Additionally, it helps maintain indoor heating, reducing both costs and environmental impact. The Chronos Team were very professional, working closely with us to install the system with minimum operational interruption to our busy hangar schedule.”

Joanne Akers, Managing Director of Chronos Technology said, “Here at Chronos, we have considerable experience of bringing GPS signals indoors for both military and civilian applications around the world. We are proud to support Virgin Atlantic with a GPS repeater solution which offers significant cost savings and faster maintenance turnaround.”

About Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic was founded by entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson in 1984, with innovation and amazing customer service at its core. In 2024, Virgin Atlantic was voted Britain’s only Global Five Star Airline by APEX for the eighth year running in the Official Airline Ratings. Headquartered in London, it employs 8,500 people worldwide, flying customers to 30 destinations across four continents throughout the year.

Alongside shareholder and Joint Venture partner Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic operates a leading transatlantic network, with onward connections to over 200 cities around the world. In February 2020, Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic launched an expanded Joint Venture, offering a comprehensive route network, convenient flight schedules, competitive fares and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem miles across all carriers.  Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam in March 2023 as the global airline alliance’s first and only UK member airline, enhancing the alliance’s transatlantic network and services to and from Heathrow and Manchester Airport.

Virgin Atlantic has been pioneering sustainability leadership for more than 15 years, committing to Net Zero by 2050 and continuous action that reduces environmental impact.  The airline operates one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets in the skies, with an average age under seven years. In October 2022, Virgin Atlantic welcomed its first A330-900’s to the fleet, continuing its transformation towards 100% next generation aircraft by 2028.  In November 2023, the airline led a consortium to deliver the world’s first flight across the Atlantic on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), demonstrating that 100% SAF can be used safely as a drop in fuel in existing infrastructure, engines and airframes. The need to scale production is an industry imperative and Virgin Atlantic is committed to radical collaboration across the energy chain to support commercialisation ahead of 2030.  For more information visit www.virginatlantic.com or via Facebook, X and Instagram @virginatlantic.