The weather forecasting and flight planning gurus at Universal Weather & Aviation have enhanced their UVdatalink air-to-ground communications service to provide pilots--and their passengers -- with greater in-flight connectivity.

The new offerings include an on-line flight planning system that allows pilots to remotely run, file and uplink flight plans quickly and easily. An online, 24-hour customer support staff also has been added to help pilots on the ground or in the air with flight planning, weather, or other operational issues.

To keep the boss in the know, UVdatalink now provides real-time Reuters world, financial, weather and sports news that can be channeled to the cabin. The service also includes stock quote and e-mail retrieval.

UVdatalink supports multiple avionics packages, including Honeywell, Smiths Industries, Rockwell Collins and Universal Avionics Systems, To keep transmission costs low, pilots may use any datalink service provider they choose.

UVdatalink is a new option on the Boeing Business Jet,, Bombardier Global Express, several of Cessna's business jets and Galaxy Aerospace's Galaxy and Astra SPX. It also is available for existing aircraft depending on their flight management system.

Universal also recently signed a license agreement for Navtech's Aurora flight planning system, which enhances operational capabilities through flight plan optimization.