Air France Connect, the company’s inflight wifi connectivity service, is officially online. After months of testing the Gogo 2Ku kit is now available to passengers on a Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft. Air France expects to have 22 wide-body planes installed and active by the end of 2018 and the full fleet online by the end of 2020.
IFE
PAC picks up an IFEC a pair
Panasonic snagged a pair of IFE/C deals this week, adding 20 aircraft to the backlog. These are still Ku connectivity contracts, not yet taking advantage of the new InmarPAC partnership announced last week.
Gogo TV live on 550+ planes; more to come
An additional 550+ aircraft now have live television on board. The Gogo TV product activated across three airlines in recent weeks, quickly adding live content to the company’s offerings. And more planes are coming online soon.
New livery, free drinks, free wifi coming to Aer Lingus in 2019
Aer Lingus is poised to launch a new livery and uniforms in Q1 2019 as part of a brand update. The new look will launch on the company’s A321neo fleet and come with improvements to the economy class product – free drinks and wifi – as well. CEO Stephen Kavanagh revealed these changes at APEX EXPO this morning as part of the carrier’s goal to continue its growth across the Transatlantic as the leading “value carrier” in the market.
Alaska Airlines adds SkyLights’ VR headsets to IFE lineup
Grab a headset on your next Alaska Airlines transcon flight from Boston. A partnership with SkyLights is bringing virtual reality as an entertainment option to the US market for the first time.
Airconnect Go set to stream on Canadian North Airlines this winter
Flights in the Great White North will be a bit more entertaining this winter. Global Eagle announced Canadian North Airlines as the launch customer for its Airconnect Go portable streaming IFE solution. Installations will begin
EXPO Preview: What’s on tap this week
The annual APEX EXPO is less than 24 hours away and anticipation for this year’s event is high. Many suppliers are promising big new throughout the week. In the inflight connectivity world it remains to be seen if anything will top the Panasonic Avionics/Inmarsat announcement from last week. Of course new order announcements are anticipated and will likely be big news. But what additional news will develop during the week?
PaxEx Premium: Panasonic’s Pivot
Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC) and Inmarsat are poised to reshape the inflight connectivity world with a landmark deal. The ten year strategic collaboration project will see PAC sell Inmarsat's Ka-band GX connectivity solution while Inmarsat bundles some of PAC's data analytics and services offerings into its sales efforts. Is this the consolidation the market so desperately craves?
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PaxEx Premium: Spirit’s wifi installs begin
Work on the first Spirit Airlines aircraft to receive its Thales-supplied inflight wifi connectivity hardware is underway. Installation efforts started this week at an MRO with Thales overseeing the work.
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PaxEx Premium: Another connectivity split fleet
Chalk up another split fleet for inflight connectivity. The latest intelligence in to PaxEx.Aero suggests another A350 operator will add a new vendor to its IFC roster.
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