The newest delivery to Alaska Airlines entered service last week with a special addition on board. Ship N927VA, an A321neo, is now flying throughout the Alaska Airlines network with Gogo’s 2Ku inflight internet service installed. This is the first Alaska Airlines aircraft to operate with the kit.
inflight connectivity
Are UON? New entrants launch inflight connectivity options
Commercial success in the inflight connectivity business is anything but easy. That isn't stopping newcomers from trying. Saudi Arabia's Taqnia Space group launched the UON offering earlier this month and it has potential. But like other offerings in the market there are questions about how well it can scale up to meet demand (both bandwidth and profits).
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Gogo management shakeup, part 2
Following the unexpected transition to a new CEO further management shakeup is hardly unexpected. Gogo took that step this week, announcing three new senior leadership positions in the company.
Qatar Airways brings connectivity gate to gate
Qatar Airways is the latest airline to bring gate-to-gate connectivity online. Regulatory changes are now approved allowing the service to operate. The next couple years of growing passenger demand with minimal spare capacity should be interesting to watch play out.
Google’s "inflight wifi play" brings questions, not answers
Is Google poised to launch an inflight internet service? The company is rumored to be looking at a Nokia division to pick up the necessary hardware for such. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and more viable use cases emerge.
Eutelsat goes big on Ka-band, dumps ViaSat-3
Major drama in the inflght connectivity world this afternoon as joint venture partners Eutelsat and Viasat are splitting on a major project. Eutelsat is launching KONNECT, its own massive increase in Ka-band capacity in 2021 and has new partners to work with on that deal. Oh, and it is bailing on its potential partnership for the ViaSat-3's EMEA coverage.
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The Hi Fly A380 is real!
European charter specialist Hi Fly really is going to operate the A380. The company confirmed today that it will have the 471-seat aircraft in its fleet by mid-year. And it should be a pretty nice ride, too.
Big order wins, financial losses for Global Eagle’s 2017 year end
There's arguably no better way to assuage investors after roporting significant losses for 2017 than to report multiple new orders to start 2018. For Global Eagle the balance is a tough one, but the 300+ new planes added to the connectivity backlog is a nice bit of news for incoming CEO Josh Marks to announce.
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SmartSky goes after the little guys with LiTE connectivity
Smaller planes need WiFi, too. Upstart SmartSky launched its LiTE platform this week, targeting light jets and props with a flat-rate, unlimited high speed product.
Gilat goes cuckoo for Ku-Ka
One antenna kit to handle connections to multiple satellite networks sounds like a great idea. Gilat now has one on offer but there’s just one problem: It is unclear that commercial demand is truly sufficient for such. Oopsie.