Air France will add sixty A220-300 aircraft to its fleet from September 2021. The planes will replace the carrier’s aging A318 and A319 aircraft. The carrier also announced plans to fully retire its fleet of ten A380s by 2022.
Global Eagle Entertainment
PaxEx Update: 26 July 2019
A long-awaited joint venture takes shape and live television takes flight on another fleet. Plus more legroom on a ULCC and better aircraft tracking in India.
Air France expands live television on board
Air France mid-haul passengers have more entertainment options, with France 24 content now live on connected aircraft.
Global Eagle increases liquidity with debt restructuring
Good news for Global Eagle: The company announced this morning that it has extended its liquidity by $61mm over the next 18 months. But there is almost certainly a little more to the story.
Norwegian goes gate-to-gate for inflight wifi connectivity
More passengers can spend more flight time online for free thanks to the latest inflight connectivity update from Norwegian Airlines. The carrier announced today that all of its connected aircraft now offer the service gate-to-gate rather than only above 10,000 feet.
Inflight Internet in India: An Opportunity Overview
India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and, somewhat surprisingly, one of the least connected in flight. That will soon change, however, thanks to the recent publication of new government regulations. Indian aviation is about to get online in a big way.
PaxEx Premium: Global Eagle boosts aero revenue, aircraft backlog
Global Eagle posted strong revenue numbers in Q3, with its content and aviation connectivity segments showing particular strength. The company also announced a couple "take away" deals that see it grabbing business from competitors. Those moves come at a cost, however, especially on the connectivity side. The increased revenue from these deals over the long term is welcome but a short term cash crunch could be bad for business.
PaxEx Premium: A LEO milestone for Global Eagle, Telesat
Global Eagle took Albatross One, its flying testbed, on a field trip to Canada last week and the results proved incredibly positive. The inflight connectivity provider partnered with satellite-operator Telesat to deliver data across the Phase 1 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and geostationary Anik F3 using a common on-board antenna from Qest and modem from Gilat. The test flight proved that transitions from the GEO satellite to LEO and back can work on the company's gimbal-mount Ka-band antenna solution. During inflight testing, the team successfully demonstrated industry-leading data upload speeds from the aircraft, engaged in uninterrupted video chatting and movie streaming, and experienced the lowest latency of any satellite connection to date.
The test flights are the latest step in Global Eagle's efforts to position itself as a technology leader in the inflight connectivity world. Company executives have talked up the new constellation since the test satellite launched at the beginning of 2018. During the recent APEX EXPO in Boston LEO connectivity was a frequent topic of conversation. For Alexis Steinman, SVP Aviation Solutions, there is no subtlety in the company's plans: "We are betting big on LEO." With this latest successful test expect that bet to continue to grow.
Innovation rises again for Global Eagle
Global Eagle is “back in the rapid innovation game.” That was the message delivered last month at Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) 2018 in Hamburg, Germany. And some of the IFE developments definitely fit that mold.
New Chairman, CEO, funding for Global Eagle
After taking nearly a year to unwind the complexity of its financials following a string of acquisitions Global Eagle is finally ready to move forward on executing its plan. Leadership and funding changes announced this week are a major step forward on that front.