Airline passengers in China and across Asia will soon have access to significantly more inflight wifi connectivity bandwith. Panasonic Avionics and APSATCOM announced the first “XTS” ultra-high speed Ku-band satellte, set to launch in early 2019.
Eutelsat
Icelandair joins the 737 MAX family; IFC missing to start
Icelandair is the latest carrier to join the 737 MAX family. The carrier took delivery of its first MAX8 today and will press it into service just a few weeks hence. That may hamstring the inflight connectivity experience for passengers, unfortunately.
Allez, EAN! Approval arrives in France for Inmarsat’s newest service
Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network just received a significant regulatory boost: it is now authorized to fly in France. That was a significant geographic gap in the coverage area that is now filled. Great new particularly for British Airways with its aircraft already being fitted to launch service later this year.
ANA brings free internet to flights
Looking for free inflight internet connectivity? Japan appears the place to be. ANA will add free internet service on the bulk of its domestic fleet in 2018, delivering more connectivity on more domestic routes than any other carrier in Japan.
Wifi across the Pacific gets a major boost from Eutelsat, Panasonic
Passengers flying across the Pacific Ocean are set for a major upgrade in inflight connectivity performance. Panasonic Avionics and Eutelsat announced this week that Eutelsat 172b is now in service, delivering a massive increase in capacity to the market, particularly for the routes aircraft use between the United States and Asia.
Terabits in space: SES and O3b announce mPOWER constellation
The next generation of satellites promises a massive boost in total capacity available, including for service to airplanes. You just have to wait for it to show up. And hope it really works as promised.
Roaming coming to in-flight satellite providers
Limited global coverage hampers the adoption of Ka-band satellite connectivity for many airlines. Two major providers will share networks to address the issue. Of course, they’re still limited to only having coverage where satellites are flying, so we’re still years away from a global solution.