Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia are trialling a new method of tracking planes over remote areas.
Following the disappearance of flight MH370 last year the three countries are trialling a system that enables planes to be tracked every 15 minutes, an increase on the current 30 to 40 minutes.
It will use existing technology fitted to 90% of long-haul aircraft.
The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March and no trace of the plane has been found, despite an extensive search. There were 239 people onboard.
According to the BBC the system is expected to increase the tracking rate to five minutes or less if there is any deviation from a plane's expected route.
Australian transport minister Warren Truss said the technology is a “world first” but added that even if it was in place a year ago it may still not have found MH370.
“It would have been very difficult, one would imagine, without knowing what precisely occurred in the case of MH370, to have intervened from outside,” Truss said.
“But at least it would have tracked the aircraft to within 15 minutes,” he added.
The trial will begin in the Australian city of Brisbane, before being extended to Indonesia and Malaysia.