AIX 2025: Air Canada to Launch Airbus A220 Airspace Cabin; Amazon’s Project Kuiper LEO Network Joins HBCplus
Share
As usual, Airbus made multiple announcements during its media briefing at Aircraft Interiors Expo covering cabin interiors, connectivity and maintenance.
XL Bins are Coming to Air Canada’s A220s in 2026
This year, the OEM revealed Air Canada as the launch customer for the Airbus Airspace cabin on the A220 family of aircraft, which includes new XL bins offering 15 percent more storage capacity.
Air Canada will retrofit the A220 Airspace cabin in a two-class confuguration. The upgrade will encompass a new ceiling design and lighting together with additional updates to include new cabin interiors, seatback in-flight entertainment and high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi.
The Canadian flag carrier currently operates 34 A220-300s and has a further 31 of the type on order with Airbus. The first aircraft to receive the new bins are scheduled to be delivered early in 2026.
Airbus VP Cabin Marketing Ingo Wuggetzer said,”Through the introduction of the A220 Airspace cabin, we now enable a fully consistent passenger experience on all our platforms providing widebody comfort on single aisle aircraft.”
“The A220 has already become a favourite among our customers, and we’re thrilled to be the launch customer for the next cabin evolution of this Canadian-designed and assembled aircraft,” added Managing Director for Onboard Product at Air Canada John Moody.
HBCplus Adds Another LEO Satellite Network to HBCplus
In another update at the show, the OEM shared that a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will see Airbus integrate Amazon’s Project Kuiper low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network into its line-fit and retrofit aircraft catalogue of managed service providers as part of its High Bandwidth Connectivity Plus (HBCplus) program.
According to Amazon, Project Kuiper’s IFC services will offer downlink speeds of up to one gigabit per second, allowing passengers to unlock faster browsing, HD streaming and enhanced productivity.
“We are excited to […] harness Amazon’s planned constellation of more than 3,200 LEO satellites.”
– Tim Sommer, Airbus
VP Sales and Marketing for Project Kuiper Chris Weber said: “Providing inflight connectivity rivalling that available on the ground is the type of complex challenge well-suited for Amazon and Project Kuiper. By building on our relationship with Airbus, we’ll enable more airlines to offer richer onboard passenger experiences and access critical flight operations information, keeping them at the forefront of the transformation in commercial aviation.”
“We are excited to work together with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, to bring the newest satellite connectivity to the aviation market, harnessing Amazon’s planned constellation of more than 3,200 LEO satellites,” concluded Tim Sommer, Airbus VP and Head of Connected Aircraft Program.
The news builds on Airbus’ announcement at the 2024 APEX EXPO about an MoU signed with Telesat as a Ka band/LEO satellite network operator (SNO).
Collins Aerospace Joins Airbus’ Digital Alliance
Finally, Airbus welcomed Collins Aerospace as a new member of the Digital Alliance for Aviation, which is now in its fifth year. It focuses on the joint development of digital solutions for airline operations powered by the Airbus Skywise platform, which supports structured data management for maintenance and repair operations.
Collins joins existing members including Airbus, Delta TechOps, GE Aerospace and Liebherr, bringing additional expertise for predictive maintenance solutions for a wide range of components and aircraft types covering areas such as avionics, aircraft interiors, enhanced communication and navigation systems and innovative solutions for flight landing systems and gears.