Get ready for another global airline in Saudi Arabia. The country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) officially launched Riyadh Air on Sunday, aiming to “leverage Saudi Arabia’s strategic geographic location between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, enabling Riyadh to become a gateway to the world and a global destination for transportation, trade, and tourism.”
Saudia
Inmarsat, Stellar Blu certify Falcon 300 terminal for GX Aviation network
The newest terminal for Inmarsat’s GX Aviation inflight WiFi network is ready to deploy. The lightweight, low-drag Falcon 300 terminal, developed with Stellar Blu (previously GDC Technics), has received full type approval for use over Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) satellite network.
In-flight connectivity’s next major hurdle: Smaller planes
More than a thousand larger regional jets fly across North America. All of them deliver a sub-par inflight WiFi experience. But that could soon change, as multiple airlines move to upgrade the systems on board over the next few years.
Scratch another IFC player from the commercial market
The Dubai Air Show provided plenty of positive news in the in-flight entertainment and connectivity world this week, but also some bad news. A second player is now out of the commercial aviation connectivity business.
Panasonic Avionics picked for Saudia IFE play
Passengers on Saudia’s A321neo and A321XLR fleet will find 4K screens and Bluetooth headphones integration at every seat on board. These features will be enabled by the Panasonic Avionics NEXT in-flight entertainment system.
Saudia selects Inmarsat GX for A321neo connectivity
Saudia’s upcoming A321neo and A321XLR fleet will feature Inmarsat’s GX Aviation Ka-band in-flight connectivity solution. The deal covers 35 aircraft slated to join the fleet in the coming years, and represents a series of firsts in the industry.
An end to cheap* WiFi for airlines?
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: Looking ahead to Global Eagle’s earnings
UON set to connect with unique business model
Taqnia Space is on the cusp of launching its UON service with Saudia. The kit will go live on a pair of A320s later this month according to Mustafa Murad, the company’s Aero Program Head. In a conversation at the Aviation Festival in London this afternoon Murad also detailed some of the unique propositions for the company’s offering, including a business model bound to look attractive to airlines.
UON gets real, adds coverage with Eutelsat
The UON inflight connectivity service from Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia Space will offer service from Europe to Asia thanks to a new deal with Eutelsat to add Ku-band capacity. The deal brings Ku-band widebeam coverage spanning Europe, the Middle East and South Asia plus an additional HTS transponder with coverage flexibility. The company is scaling up strong, but will it be enough to succeed in a crowded market?