Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia are launching a trial to allow air traffic controllers to more closely track aircraft traversing remote oceans such as the one believed to be the final resting place of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Under the system being tested, long-haul aircraft would effectively be required to check in every 15 minutes, rather than every 30-40 minutes, which is the current norm. Long-haul flights in an area covering roughly 11 per cent of the world’s surface will take part in the test. There was no further detail immediately available about what flights or routes the trial would cover.

A preliminary report issued by Malaysia last May described frantic attempts to trace the aircraft, with air traffic control in Kuala Lumpur contacting counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong and Phnom Penh when something appeared to have gone awry.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in a media release that the new system, which adapts technology already used by most long-haul jets, could greatly narrow down search areas in the case of future tragedies: “This new approach enables immediate improvements to monitoring long-haul flights and will give the public greater confidence in aviation, without requiring any additional technology investment by airlines.”

Airlines say they generally support improved tracking, but baulked recently at a stopgap proposal to oblige carriers to fit existing systems within 12 months, saying the technology was still evolving.

The EU is expected to unveil new regulations on flight tracking soon as the international aviation community attempts to show some progress a year after MH370 was lost.