Growth and Capabilities in Airline Connectivity
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The first afternoon sessions of day two at the APEX Middle East Regional Conference in Abu Dhabi focused on the in-flight connectivity market.
Scalable Solutions
To kick things off Ben Griffin, regional director MEA, Inmarsat discussed the company’s approach to connectivity and how the satellite telecom giant is accommodating for the growth in connected aircraft systems.
“There is no utopia at the moment but we’re not far off it,” says Griffin and adds that with a 300 percent increase in connected aircraft in the next 10 years, there are ways to create scalable solutions for airlines that are “ahead of the curve as much as possible.”
From a passenger approach, Griffin says we need to define the passenger and move away from blanket statements about their needs, especially in markets such as the Middle East where passenger diversity runs high. But for passengers looking for connectivity in-flight, Griffin notes passengers do expect as close an experience to what they have on the ground.
Connected Aircraft Capabilities
And though in-flight connectivity is a complex space, once a high-speed broadband connection is established on an aircraft, it opens up a world of opportunities from both a passenger and airline perspective. To discuss the benefits of the connected aircraft from an airline perspective TJ Horsager, corporate lead, Connected Aircraft, Gogo led a panel of experts on the topic.
When asked where to start when implementing a full connected fleet, Sumant Hattikudur, regional director, Services Strategy, Boeing, affirmed it all begins with understanding the business objectives of the airline. “Once an airline has laid this out, the next step is to identify the key apps and services that would deliver on those objectives,” adds Hattikudur.
From fuel efficiency to improved ground crew communication, the benefits of a connected aircraft from an airline operations perspective were made clear by the panel. “You can save 600 kg of fuel with an optimized descent,” noted Theirry Archer, regional director program management Middle East, Panasonic Avionics.
But for the airlines in the audience, cost of the connectivity systems was much less clear. Fergal Murray, CCO, Arconics drew a parallel with the bundling of services trend we have seen across the industry: “There is an opportunity for us as vendors to put a complete bundling of services together,” while Hattikudur noted the equipage cost-reduction trend that he expects will allow airlines to implement in-flight connectivity more easily.