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The Business of Passenger Experience

Ku

Epic Troubles: Satellite failure slashes inflight wifi capacity

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What happens when gigabits of capacity goes offline? Passengers and inflight connectivity providers alike are about to find out. Intelsat 29e, the first of the Epic Ku-band High Throughput Satellites, suffered a fuel leak on 7 April 2019, followed by a second issue on 9 April. The satellite is in "safe mode" meaning all customer-facing services are disabled as the operator seeks to address the problems. This represents a significant hit to Ku-band capacity over the Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean.

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PaxEx Premium: A pleasant surprisESA

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The only official announcement around electronically steered antennae (ESA) for commercial aircraft this week at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg came from Gogo. And it probably was the least significant ESA story from the show. Instead, a surprise from a different supplier stole the spotlight.

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Inflight Internet in India: An Opportunity Overview

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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.

Ball Aerospace successfully tests phased array antenna with Telesat LEO satellite

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Score another successful test of existing antenna hardware on the new, LEO satellite technology. This time it is Ball Aerospace and its electronically steered flat panel kit linking up with Telesat’s LEO 1.

Aer Lingus packs a pair of surprises into A321LR plans

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Aer Lingus continues to roll out details on its A321LR fleet plans ahead of delivery later this Spring. The LR will kick off a brand revitalization effort in 2019 extending the carrier’s premium offerings. Even as it seeks to join some parts of the IAG framework, including the (long anticipated) transatlantic fares joint venture, Aer Lingus will keep a streak of independence from its IAG overlords.

Gogo claims a win in de-icing fluid battle

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Cautious but confident, Gogo issued a report this morning declaring success in mitigating the deicing fluid issues on its 2Ku inflight wifi antenna hardware. More than 2,600 potential deicing events showed zero affected aircraft so far this winter.

UON takes first flight on a Saudia A320

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The first UON-equipped aircraft entered commercial service this week. The Saudia A320 HZ-ASB began passenger service with the new inflight connectivity kit installed on 10 November 2019. The aircraft serves Geneva from Saudia’s hubs in Riyadh and Jeddah.

An end to cheap* WiFi for airlines?

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Maybe it has never truly been cheap for passengers, but airlines historically took advantage of great deals from suppliers to secure inflight wifi connectivity solutions relatively inexpensively. As those vendors now seek financial stability more than market share a shift is underway. Is the era of cheap wifi over? (And did it ever really exist?!?)

PaxEx Premium: Global Eagle boosts aero revenue, aircraft backlog

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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.

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PaxEx Premium: Looking ahead to Global Eagle’s earnings

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Two stories should deliver a net boost for Global Eagle headed into Thursday's earnings release. They are not both good news (and one remains unconfirmed), but the positive outweighs the negative significantly.

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