Passengers flying across the Pacific Ocean are set for a major upgrade in inflight connectivity performance. Panasonic Avionics and Eutelsat announced this week that Eutelsat 172b is now in service, delivering a massive increase in capacity to the market, particularly for the routes aircraft use between the United States and Asia.
PaxEx
Bringing a 360 view to the moving map
Can a more immersive moving map experience turn more passengers into inflight shopping customers? A greater opportunity to both entertain and engage passengers is part of the proposition from FligthPath 360; and maybe some purchases, too.
Transforming the Middle East market with a premium 737
The new flydubai business class cabin is pretty sexy. But expect more than just new seats as a couple hundred 737s are delivered with the beds on board.
Cathay goes Gogo; 2Ku coming to wide body fleet
Cathay Pacific is committing further to connectivity on its long-haul fleet. The carrier announced a contract with Gogo today to fit its 777 and A330 aircraft with the 2Ku product beginning in mid-2018. The full rollout is expected to be completed by 2020.
Emirates Takes Inmarsat GX for 777X Connectivity
Emirates is adding a new inflight connectivity provider to its portfolio, hoping to up the speeds available to passengers on the 777X fleet when it enters service in 2020.
Video: The killer app in Emirates’ new 777 First Class Suite
The luxury in Emirates’ new 777 first class suites isn’t about the seat or the food. Video steals the show on board, with hints of what the industry will (eventually) be like for everyone.
ViaSat, JetBlue tighten ties, push Thales out on Connectivity
JetBlue is tweaking its inflight connectivity plans, securing its relationship with ViaSat while pushing Thales out as an integrator. That's mostly good news, unless you're Thales.
Putting Delta Premium Select to the test: The Inaugural Flight
The introduction of Delta Premium Select may be the most significant change the carrier has seen in a decade or more. Here’s how the product fared on its inaugural service. Plus tons of photos!
When the IFE system can watch you back
Is it the ultimate surveillance scenario or a step forward in the passenger experience? Or maybe a little bit of both?? Vendors are cooperating today to deliver integrated biometrics in the inflight entertainment system, tying together a camera embedded in the screen with connectivity to various other platforms that can act on the data.
Inmarsat, Deutsche Telekom complete first EAN flight tests
EAN, Europe’s newest inflight connectivity platform, took a major step forward as Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom announce completion of the first test flight(s) of the system. The countries overflown during the tests are also interesting given some of the regulatory and legal challenges the program faces.