GE Aviation has purchased digital aircraft records management company Critical Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

With the deal, GE aims to boost its ability to focus on asset lifecycle management and maintenance optimisation for the aviation sector.

The deal has enabled GE to gain access to Critical Technologies' portfolio AirVault, which provides cloud-based digital records management services and mission-critical records across the industrial supply chain network.

Along with GE’s Configuration Data Exchange capability, AirVault will also enhance web-based fleet maintenance records management across the aviation ecosystem, as well as enable the development of various innovative industry applicationsn when combined with GE’s Predix industrial cloud platform.

GE Aviation vice-president and chief digital officer Jim Daily said: “Our focus is to help our customers and the overall industry to be more efficient.

“The acquisition of AirVault combines some of the best people and records management capability with GE’s domain expertise in flight analytics and engine diagnostics to bring disparate data together to drive operational efficiencies.”

“Our focus is to help our customers and the overall industry to be more efficient."

AirVault currently has data centre operations in Dallas and Oklahoma City, US.

The brand is presently managing the maintenance records for more than 50% of the North American commercial aircraft fleet for 4,400 aircraft tail numbers and 20% worldwide.  

AirVault manages more than seven billion records in a private, secure cloud-hosted at the company's data centres for 40,000 users worldwide.

In a separate development, GE Aviation announced that it has delivered its new Update 13 (U13) flight management software for Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft.