New internet standard ready to be introduced in coming months

rivegauche

https://www.inmarsataviation.com/en/services/european-aviation-network/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-european-aviation-network.html

http://www.airliners.de/european-aviation-network-internet-board/51053
German text.

IAG will be participating in the soft launch but Aer Lingus wasn't mentioned as one of the brands in the report.

It is a LTE/Satellite hybrid system and weighs only approx 60kg with a low drag antenna.

It looks like a real added value feature which people would be willing to pay for and is a more respectable way of earning a crust than selling scratch cards.

It is a real differentiator which gives airlines a way of extracting money from Customers. Can you entice a 5'3" woman to change airline for 31" instead of 30" pitch? Unlikely. Can you extract €5 for internet? Can you keep the teenage kids quiet by giving them internet for only €5. Definitely. Will your employer pay for a seat on a plane without internet connection or will they buy a ticket from the competitor which is equipped with this.

No moving parts in the device to break.

ED E

I think you're buying into the hype a little too much. LTE connectivity will be useless/unavailable from about 5KM up depending on weather. That just leaves you with sat services on par with what you're currently seeing.

Nobody cares about WiFi on a short hop to Munich but they do trans Atlantic where ground stations dont't exist...

rivegauche

Inmarsat would not be letting a third party in on the game if there weren't tangible benefits which their existing infrastructure can't supply.

Noxegon

ED E wrote: »

Nobody cares about WiFi on a short hop to Munich but they do trans Atlantic where ground stations dont't exist...

I fly within Europe all the time and reliable WiFi would allow me to use the time productively.

Of course I’m not sure how much i can actually get done in between the constant sales pitch, but that’s a different problem

goingnowhere

Its about end to end coverage, on the ground taxing around and in the departure and arrival LTE will be excellent and that can be a large chunk of the actual on board time.

Mobile coverage is not great, its not about range (massively better antenna than a handheld) the antenna's do not point up

Tenger

Thread is currently based on PR from the company itself. (And a German language article) Can be revisited once we have in operation.