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inflight connectivity

Gogo’s strong Q3 offset by global ARPA concerns

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Gogo revised its expectations for 2020 and beyond, announcing updated goals as the company continues its drive towards profitability. Alas, details on those revised targets will not be shared with investors. CEO Oakleigh Thorne shared that the new math takes into account "more realistic expectations" of satellite costs and the shift to the airline-directed model. Assuming the new numbers are part of the Q3 '18 numbers they should help the company significantly, though there are indications some parts of the operation could revert to higher costs. The inability for global revenue to keep pace with growth in North America is also concerning given the company's current backlog.

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PaxEx Premium: Second-guessing the Garuda/Inmarsat GX deal

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Today's announcement of Garuda's deal with Inmarsat to fit its full fleet with Global Xpress for inflight connectivity came as a surprise to many in the industry. Notable among them, the other vendors still expecting the RFP process to begin in earnest. Was this announcement premature??

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Garuda goes GX for inflight connectivity

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Garuda Indonesia is the latest carrier to get online in the sky. The airline announced today that it will fly Inmarsat’s Global Xpress kit on its fleet, starting with the A330s early next year.

PaxEx Premium: Fiji Airways gets connected

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Fiji Airways is just weeks away from delivery of the carrier's first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. With that delivery the airline joins the ranks of carriers delivering wifi connectivity in the sky. The aircraft carries the necessary hardware for inflight connectivity on board. Official details on the vendor remain unclear but we have a pretty good idea what's under the hump.

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A few firsts on Juneyao’s premier Dreamliner

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Adding a new type to an airline’s fleet is interesting in its own right. China’s Juneyao Airlines added the 787-9 Dreamliner last week and it is more significant than most similar expansions, both for passengers and China’s aviation industry growth.

PaxEx Premium: A LEO milestone for Global Eagle, Telesat

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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.

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Eurowings, Deutsche Telekom deliver free wifi on board

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Eurowings passengers can now connect to the internet for free in flight. But can a free tease deliver the revenue boost desired? Or will passengers remain averse to paying for internet in the sky?

Pitching inflight wifi to NEOS: A look at the options

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How does an airline go about comparing the inflight wifi connectivity options available on the 787 Dreamliner? Lots of contract details about pricing and delivery timeframes are certainly critical, but occasionally the data is summed up into two slides in a briefing deck. For Italian charter operator NEOS the contest settled between Viasat and Panasonic Avionics back in 2017. It appears the carrier chose neither vendor, but the summary of the positioning from the two finalists is intriguing.

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PaxEx Premium: JetWave appears unfazed

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Competition is generally good news for customers and bad news for the company that dominates a market. The recent strategic partnership announcement by Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics will bring competition to the on-board terminal hardware for the Global Xpress (GX) inflight connectivity solution. Today's exclusive provider Honeywell appears unfazed – and even optimistic – at the developments.

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Welcome to the electronically steered, phased array era

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After years and years of promises it appears that electronic steered phased array antennae are (finally) ready to break into the commercial and biz jet aviation markets. Multiple vendors are now touting partnerships that will delver aero-certified hardware in the next few years. Is it really finally happening??