Thai Airways continues to grow its inflight connectivity offerings, with the A330s now coming online. The aircraft will be fitted with Intelsat‘s 2Ku solution; the first two are already in service.
We are delighted to partner with Thai Airways to deliver streaming-quality inflight connectivity for their passengers throughout Southeast Asia and beyond.
– Mike DeMarco, Chief Commercial Officer at Intelsat
The move is part of Thai’s efforts to deliver complimentary high-speed service to members of its loyalty program and premium cabin travelers. That plan was initially shared last October when Thai announced it would install a solution from Neo Space Group on its A321neo and 777 aircraft.
With this Intelsat 2Ku announcement Thai offers some additional details on the service plans. Unlimited text and chat will be complimentary to start, it says. The carrier will eventually expand that “to different tiers of Thai’s frequent flyer program.” Whether that means different tiers will see different service levels is unclear, but that is how I am inclined to read the statement.
Read more: Intelsat Multi-Orbit Inflight Connectivity Coming to Skymark Airlines
Thai’s A330 fleet is small, at just five aircraft. The release notes two of the planes are installed today, with a third is expected in July 2025.
The 2Ku solution uses the ThinKom ThinAir Ku3030 antenna to connect to satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
The choice of 2Ku rather than the multi-orbit system likely comes from the route profile the Thai A330 fleet operates. With significant traffic across China and India, two countries where LEO services are limited, the GEO-focused hardware is an effective and efficient solution.
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