The aircraft type will be new to the fleet, but JetBlue’s A220s will have some familiar touches on board. Among them, the inflight WiFi connectivity will be delivered by Viasat. And it will continue to be free to passengers.
inflight connectivity
Small Sats get a launch boost from SpaceX, Ariancespace
Cutting the cost for delivering satellites into space is a key factor to increasing capacity and improving coverage in the inflight connectivity market. SpaceX and Arianespace both announced programs today that will help on this front.
PaxEx Update: 2 August 2019
A new A321LR enters service for Aer Lingus, faster security screening for United and promises of faster infilght WiFi. Plus Hulu takes flight on Delta and more! Get all the details in this week’s PaxEx Update.
Inmarsat’s maturing IFC market
As inflight connectivity products mature and consumers become familiar with the offerings the expectation from suppliers is that they will pay more for the services more often. Just how long that maturation process takes remains an interesting question, however. The latest report from Inmarsat adds more data to consider on this front, but few solid answers.
Air France adds A220s, retires A380s
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.
Kymeta, Kepler demonstrate LEO link
Chalk up another successful test of an electronically steered antenna (ESA) against a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite. This time around the Kymeta u7 ESA repeatedly established reliable connectivity with Kepler’s two demonstration satellites.
Killing connectivity for Garuda, Citilink
It was one of the faster installations and activations for a new inflight connectivity customer. In under a year Indonesia's Citilink went from agreement to contract to installation to activation of its onboard WiFi solution, powered by Inmarsat's GX Aviation and managed by Mahata Aero Teknologi (MAT). Now that deal – and the associated installations on Garuda and Sriwijaya – appears dead.
Aer Lingus’s first A321LR joins the fleet
Aer Lingus took delivery of its first A321LR last week and is wasting little time in pressing the aircraft into service. Flights to Hartford begin on Friday, August 2, 2019.
Telesat scores major LEO commitment from Canadian government
LEO constellations are going to help revolutionize inflight connectivity, but they’re also very expensive and aviation cannot support the industry alone. Telesat scored a major investment from the Canadian government this week that helps ensure its 298 satellites will take flight.
Concessions, not collapse
When the government gets involved in any commercial transaction there are bound to be concerns for all parties involved. With two different UK agencies looking in to the proposed deal to take satellite operator Inmarsat private questions are sure to arise about the future of that deal. Fortunately, it appears that concessions and guarantees are in play rather than an outright collapse of the transaction.