Welcome to the PaxEx Update bringing you the top passenger experience headlines for the week ending 20 September 2019.
Virgin Atlantic wants to grow at Heathrow. A LOT. The company is lobbying the UK government to change how slots are allocated as the third runway construction approaches and teased out more than 80 potential new destinations it wants to serve, assuming it can get 150 of the new slots, about 40% of the total coming to market. Never gonna happen, but it is interesting to see the conversation.
SAS unveiled a new livery this week, flying soon on its first A350. We’re calling it euro-gray rather than euro-white, with a splash of silver for the large airline name on the side and no more red on the engines.
IFE provider Burrana now has its offerings on display at the Boeing 737 studio in Renton, making it easier for potential customers to compare the line-fit solution with other vendors’ products. This includes the new 4K drop-down overhead screens unveiled at last week’s APEX EXPO in Los Angeles.
On the inflight connectivity front OneWeb and Iridium announced the beginnings of a partnership to deliver data services across the pairs’ truly global Ku-band and L-Band low earth orbit constellations. That said, the phrase “no products or timelines or applications to announce” should set expectations pretty low for how far along the program is today.
And the 2017 announcement by AirAsia that it will install the Inmarsat GX Aviation product is finally coming to fruition. Eight of the carrier’s planes across two subsidiaries are now flying with the kit and it is free to passengers until the end of the month. The rest of the are expected to be installed in the coming year.
Finally, Virgin Australia wants to buy back the 35% of its loyalty program it sold off just a few years ago in a cash crunch. The price today is significantly higher, but the company believes that full control over the Velocity program is worth the cash. And it can afford it now with some financing, it seems.
Keep up with these stories and more all week long on PaxEx.Aero and have a great trip.
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