Stopovers arguably built the Icelandic tourism economy and its position in the North Atlantic aviation market. But are such programs a guaranteed success? More and more airlines are trying, often with outsized expectations and limited success. Here are a few examples of such…
Qatar Airways
Inmarsat starts generating GX airtime revenue, seeks greater agility for growth
Inmarsat reported its first half financial results this morning in London with one surprising bit of data: The GX commercial aviation service finally started generating airtime revenue is Q2 '18, more than a year after entering service on some commercial aircraft.
Everyday sexism, Aviation edition
Qatar Airways GCEO Akbar Al Baker is known for making controversial statements. Now he is doing so representing both his airline and IATA, the global aviation trade group. So when he suggests that airline CEOs must be men because “It is a very challenging position” that creates all sorts of new problems.
Emirates (finally) commits to Premium Economy
Passengers still must wait a couple years, but Emirates is finally set to introduce a premium economy cabin on its A380 fleet. Sir Tim Clark offers up a few details on the effort in a recent podcast episode.
Inmarsat GX officially live on Qatar Airways
It has been flying for a while, but the high speed Inmarsat Global Xpress (GX) service is now officially live on Qatar Airways. Some 130 777 and A350 aircraft will eventually carry the kit. And all passengers still get a free hour of connectivity on board.
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.
Which 747-8 is next up for high-speed wifi?
High speed internet service is coming to the 747-8i in 2018. Lufthansa Technik won the contract to install the kit, but the airline customer was not named. Here are the likely candidates for such.