Airlines will soon have a LEO option for internet service in China, thanks to a deal between Panasonic Avionics and Spacesail.
China
Considering Connectivity In, Over, Around, and Beyond China
Airbus announced plans to add the Chinese Spacesail (Qianfan) LEO constellation to its HPCplus portfolio, opening the door to conversations about how else it might end up in service for airlines.
SkyFive Scores India Inflight Internet License
India’s role in the aviation world continues to grow, including options for inflight internet thanks to a license recently issued to SkyFive.
Gossiping Around the APEX Water Cooler
Kuiper made a splash at APEX Global Expo this year, showing up with its first customer in hand. Starlink also always grabs a lot of attention. But it was the quieter conversations away from the main floor that were, as always, most interesting.
China Eastern launches streaming IFE on its newest C919
The ninth C919 for China Eastern arrived last week, carrying a bit of a passenger experience boost. It is the first C919 for the carrier to feature a streaming entertainment solution on board.
ESAs, China, and the future of inflight connectivity
Depending on who you ask – and I asked several people at at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2024 last month – ESAs are the best way forward for inflight connectivity, or a compromise that come up short for airlines.
SES Open Orbits brings multi-constellation, multi-orbit Ka-band connectivity together on a global scale
SES will bring together a collective of Ka-band capacity providers under its Open Orbits program, providing a new type of competition in the global inflight connectivity market.
Going offline? Viasat targeted for Chinese sanctions
Viasat is a target of Chinese sanctions, which could knock some airlines offline in and over the region.
China, Las Vegas feature in Gatwick summer 2024 slot allocations
Norse Atlantic may bring its flying longboats to Las Vegas this summer. The route is noted in the initial slot allocations for Gatwick, released today.
Rolling delays hit inflight connectivity over China
When it comes to inflight connectivity growth opportunity China is hard to ignore. It is a massive market, but one with almost no short-haul aircraft carrying Wi-Fi hardware on board. And despite repeated promises that the online world is finally ready to imminently take flight, at least one supplier is finally backing off the hype and recognizing significant additional delays in getting its systems off the ground.