The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Nancy Walker, Senior Vice President, Aviation Connectivity, Anuvu.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Anuvu continues to see inflight customer activity moving towards applications requiring low latency and high return link throughput, across our mobility (maritime and inflight) customers.

We saw this trend years ago and we believe this will continue through 2023 and beyond. At one time, airlines thought the only thing that mattered for their customers was the ability to stream content, a relatively easy task to accomplish.

“Inflight connectivity solutions are an investment.”

Nancy Walker, Anuvu

Airlines are now seeing their customers’ demands migrate from streaming to include a heavy demand for the ability to work and collaborate in the cloud. Streaming content, tolerant of long latency times and very limited return links, is no longer the most demanding customer experience.

Cloud-based work and collaboration, which skyrocketed through the pandemic and continues unabated, is now demanding much more from connectivity suppliers. Airlines understand that solutions based only on streaming solutions and old GEO assets will not satisfy their customers’ needs going forward.

We also see a rapid convergence of connectivity and media content in the cabin, with airlines using their IFC systems to refresh content more often and to target advertising to their passengers.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“Anuvu supports aviation, maritime and mobility markets exclusively. In 2023, we are seeing the maritime industry pivot to LEO networks and Anuvu is supporting this major market shift. Partnering with Starlink for maritime, Anuvu has embraced this market shift and works with customers to integrate multi-orbit solutions into their vessels.

We see this market shift starting in aviation and Anuvu stands ready to support airlines on this next chapter of aviation connectivity.

Airlines will continue to evaluate new LEO solutions coming to the market and to explore ways to adopt multi-orbit models—a pathway that Anuvu has long advocated. We offer a hybrid GEO-LEO solution today in the maritime market and we think airlines will increasingly press for flexible solutions that offer the best of both LEO and GEO satellites to provide a compelling mix of performance and economics for their IFC customer experience.

We don’t think connectivity customers will lock themselves in to closed architectures and will seek solutions that maintain optionality. We also believe that airlines will view connectivity as more than a passenger Wi-Fi offering and evaluate IFC solutions for a role in a variety of business objectives—targeted advertising, customer personalisation, cabin crew communications, and other functionality.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“At Anuvu, our experience shows that on-board Wi-Fi take rates depend on a wide variety of factors. These include other entertainment options available, offering of free messaging services, pricing of the Wi-Fi, ability to purchase Wi-Fi in the ticketing process, type of travelers (business or leisure), length of flight, day of week, type of connectivity required by the customer, and lastly on the expected performance of on-board Wi-Fi.

Take rates can vary wildly between 1% to upwards of over 60% on even the same airline dependent on the factors listed above. Anuvu systems support low to high throughput and take-rate demands always backed by a service level guarantee.

Anuvu has demonstrated over the last two decades our ability to customize our offering and work closely with our partner airlines to meet their expectations. Anuvu does not force any airline partner to fit their passenger experience to our business model – in fact, we do just the opposite.

With our connectivity, live television and our IFE offerings, we build unique solutions to allow airlines to control their interaction with their most valued assets – their passengers.

At Anuvu, we see passenger Wi-Fi and the outdated, “bring your own license” streaming-focused model as just one of multiple applications for airline connectivity. Aviation customers are increasingly exploring how inflight connectivity (IFC) and inflight entertainment (IFE) are converging and the many potential benefits this can offer an airline.

In addition to customising their interaction with their passengers, airlines are now using connectivity systems to bring fresh content and targeted advertising to their passengers. We’re also seeing gaming, retail and other connected entertainment services growing rapidly. Social media, accessed over smartphone apps, is the default entertainment for younger generations.

The convergence of IFC and IFE will also give airlines the ability to better understand their customer base and to curate content and other offerings via connected seatback screens and passenger devices. As airlines upgrade their connectivity systems to next-generation links, we’ll be able to open a new frontier in marketing, personalization, and targeting.

“The IFC market is entering an exciting period of growth and innovation.”

Nancy Walker, Anuvu

We believe that airlines will continue to use Wi-Fi as a brand differentiator and ancillary revenue source, depending on their brand and positioning in the market. Some carriers will offer IFC on a complimentary basis to all or a portion of their customers, while others will continue charging for it.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Airlines make calculated financial and marketing decisions when assessing their IFC investments and their overall passenger experience. Airlines need to plan their expenditures today to ensure they can support their passengers’ IFC needs for the next decade.

Streaming tends to dominate discussions around inflight connectivity, as if it’s the most difficult application to support. In fact, it is the easiest.

Given that streaming does not require low latency nor heavy return-link throughput, the discussion shifts to how airlines will meet the needs of cloud-based collaboration and working demand proliferation. 

When the conversation shifts to the future and doesn’t stay focused on the past, it is clear what the airlines need to do. Airlines must select a service provider with a long legacy of aviation connectivity and the ability to provide future solutions to their passengers. Inflight connectivity solutions are an investment that is most readily justified when it has the ability to support current and future demands and the inevitable shifts in technology to meet those demands.

Old fashioned GEO satellites have their place but lose when it comes to the ability to have a long life cycle with low total cost of ownership and service level guarantees that leave airlines in control.

Anuvu has prepared for the future and while we have seen GEO capacity growth for aviation, we are adding our own capacity in 2023 with the launch of the Anuvu Constellation.

These are smaller MicroGEO satellites to complement our leased capacity for airlines and maritime clients. Anuvu is also uniquely positioned as we are investing in solutions that support the push towards LEO.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“The IFC market is entering an exciting period of growth and innovation, from more affordable GEO satellite options like the Anuvu Constellation to the proliferation of new LEO constellations from Telesat, Kuiper, SpaceX, OneWeb and others.

The flexibility and efficiency that these provide are becoming increasingly important for IFC customers around the world. Connectivity providers will need to become fully digital in their approach and flexible about system architecture, while offering customers the best attributes of GEO and LEO orbits.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Andreas Fuchs, Director of Products, KID Systeme.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Connectivity on aircraft is playing an increasingly important role in these times. Passengers “demand connectivity” and a unique flight experience, which for them includes constant availability of the Internet. In 2023, this expectation will increase, and more and more system providers will enter the market offering digital solutions for the aircraft cabin with multi-lane IFE solutions and permanent WiFi.

In the U.S. there are already several major airlines offering this user experience for several years, and it will surely soon become the norm across the entire world.

KID-Systeme GmbH will launch the new WiFi 6 Cabin Access Point product with double throughput at the AIX 2023. On-Board Audio- and video streaming using local content is in our hands and our goal is to provide a similar WiFi user experience here as at home or in the office via our hardware and software solutions.

Internet connection speed and throughput also depend on available satellite communications services, which are currently a bottleneck. We see that SatCom capacity is growing all the time, but it will be a while before we have permanent and stable performance here as well.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“The market will shift to a very dynamic integrator model, with service providers competing with the latest and most modular software solutions. Airlines are looking to these integrator experiences to differentiate themselves with multiple networks and tailored solutions. This competitive environment will be a prerequisite to provide value to the passenger – in the end, they choose the best service!

Standards like those at home should also become possible on airplanes in the future. Wi-Fi Open Roaming will bring great comfort to Wi-Fi users. Satellite connectivity will increase. New companies will challenge the old players and some of them will survive this rather small and competitive market.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of WiFi changing in the cabin going forward?

“Two important factors play the decisive role here. Local streaming of audio- and video-content and Internet connectivity. The first, an increase in passenger usage is getting better as airlines start to be creative e.g. with bundling offers and new technology like our WIFI 6 WAP, for the second there is still a lack of sufficient SatCom capacity per aircraft.

If more and more passengers use the Internet service on board while the SatCom connection remains the same at 5 or 10 Mbps per aircraft, the user experience will deteriorate. In the future, more satcom data throughput per aircraft will be needed to meet user expectations, e.g., through new Ka-Satcom or direct aircraft-to-ground communication systems.

Local in-flight content and services may need to be enhanced to attract passengers to these services instead of Internet streaming.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“With streaming of local content via “bring your own device” (BYOD). Very good WiFi performance is required in the cabin for high passenger density scenarios, such as in A320 or A350 aircraft with 200 and 350 PAX. With KID’s integrated and modular software platform GeniusLINK, we offer airlines and IFE providers the ability to enable the IFE system to stream content to passengers’ mobile devices.

The platform hosts passenger and crew applications simultaneously and supports frequently changed Passenger and Airline expectations on Wireless Entertainment, eCommerce and crew operation (“partner services”). GeniusLINK supports new trends and expectations by changing the hosted apps easily without impacts on hardware or hardware certification.

Considering the growing number of content providers we expect also a lot of players leaving the market unsuccessfully. So it is very important for airlines to have a flexible hard and software solution to offer continued support even in such situations – like GeniusLINK.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“Actually, we cannot see a bigger change in the Satellite connectivity market for passengers due to 5G. The 5G technology will better support the data exchange between the aircraft and airlines- or maintenance providers infrastructure. Data Exchange during short groundtimes of aircraft will definitely be better supported in the future. This has been a problem with the old standards.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“With our revolutionary concept of a multi-purpose platform – the GeniusLINK – we offer the highest flexibility of an open software platform in the aircraft. This allows the airline to host not only applications for passengers, but also applications that contribute to crew operations.

Here, we offer for example the digital seal for life jackets – a visual indicator for the crew to ensure flight safety before the flight. Aircraft downtime is reduced, and the crew receives digital support for their safety functions.

Airline business models focus on passenger comfort and services. To meet this market demand, we will offer our comprehensive App Gallery, which provides a wide variety of apps ranging from inflight entertainment and crew operations through to applications and e-commerce. All apps within GeniusLINK are pre-tested to meet changing needs and can be easily installed without any impact on hardware and certification.

Furthermore, GeniusLINK is the central element in our innovative modular cabin system, the GeniusSERIES. As an innovative and powerful server, it connects all products including data and storage. Enjoy a comprehensive and open software and hardware infrastructure that facilitates exceptional apps and features while paving the way to the digital future.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Don Buchman, VP and GM, Commercial Aviation, Viasat, Viasat.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“We suspect that airlines will continue to look closely – as they have for years – at free Wi-Fi options as part of the passenger experience, with increasing trials and exploration of what is right for each airlines’ goals and how to best leverage and integrate into the overall airline brand promise.

Free in-flight Wi-Fi can take many forms — from full, fast, free Wi-Fi to sponsored Wi-Fi to in-flight trial offers or sessions. And it will be up to each airline how they incorporate these options – or if they do at all – into the overall passenger experience.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“As passenger expectations for high quality connectivity soar, meaning I can do what I want without constraints, we anticipate demand will continue to increase exponentially, and especially in under penetrated markets around the world. Being connected no matter where you are is increasingly the norm, even (and maybe even especially) while on the go.

Viasat is focused on positioning our airline customers not only for the growing demand and expectations for in-flight connectivity, but for the continually rising data requirements of the most bandwidth intensive applications of the internet: streaming video, live television, social apps, and more. Just like our earth-bound lives, the plethora of new data hungry devices and applications drive more and more demands for bandwidth, the aircraft is no different.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“At Viasat, for many years we have been focused on solving the greatest challenge to high quality in-flight connectivity, which provides a consistent and more reliable connected experience for passengers. Unfortunately, the industry has been branded by early experiences where the quality was extremely poor due to not enough capacity, which is the failure mechanism for IFC providers.

We have been evangelizing that poor quality is a thing of the past, and with a new generation of traveller emerging post-Covid, we are seeing higher and higher participation as the first experience with us is quite positive. So, with this experience, we see will continue to see take rates increase.

Across global air travel, demand for satellite bandwidth is concentrated over small geographical areas, such as major hub cities where many aircraft are gathered, especially during peak travel times. Considerable bandwidth is required to meet this capacity density challenge and service airlines customers in these areas with fast and consistent connectivity.

As more airlines understand that is the fundamental challenge and solve for it, even offering Wi-Fi as a free amenity perhaps, engagement from passengers rises considerably.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“You’re right about this trend. Connectivity is increasingly a proxy for entertainment – not wildly different from our living rooms today. And now those streaming services can come with us when we travel. In fact, 90% of passengers bring a PED on a flight.

We have long talked about the convergence of connectivity and entertainment — in fact, we’ve planned for it. Video is still top by far data consumption category – our service is designed to keep up with data demands now and into the future, especially with the ever-increasing video quality required by the latest high-def device screens.

We anticipate airlines will continue to express interest in expanding connectivity across aircraft types of all sizes, and we’re excited about this opportunity.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Phil Hall, Co-founder and CEO, Apios.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“We see connectivity and the resulting opportunities in the cabin as the focal point of development and innovation in the coming years. In 2023/early 2024 specifically, it will be transitional where the newer high speed systems start to come online. What comes next, and how airlines understand, utilise and capitalise on this, is the really exciting part. It’s why Apios was founded.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“I think we need to start thinking and striving toward innovation cycles more in terms of the consumer electronics industry timelines. At Apios we are committed to the ethos that hyper-personalised journeys are going to be key to the future travel experience on-board.

The new generation of in-flight connectivity and digital interface will facilitate that to a much greater degree than perviously seen. The passenger device and their personal digital entertainment profile are key aspects, as is the airlines’ ability manage the total relationship cycle with its customers.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“Being a passenger and using some of these “top end” systems myself I can see why. They simply just don’t perform to customer expectations, especially when compared to the ground experience. Being asked to pay for that level of performance and frustration just simply doesn’t work.

Moving forward, the connected cabin environment has to become indistinguishable from the ground experience and that means personalised content delivery wherever and whenever with speeds and stability to match.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“For short haul flights we think that the passenger device with USB power provision is an acceptable way to consume personalised content. Whether it’s downloaded prior to boarding or streamed will depend, to a very large degree, on the bandwidth available on the aircraft.

For longer duration flights, we see seat back displays as the key interface between passenger and airline.

Not the traditional systems but a new generation of system (just like our REFLECT system) that is focused on integrating the passenger device into the seat environment, that is more comfortable to view for prolonged periods (of course with power provision) offering them greater choice of their own content with the unique ability to cast their own DRM compliant content from their device to our seat back display – either downloaded or directly streamed with the appropriate connection bandwidth.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“For sure. This adds a new dimension of choice and opportunity and that can only be a positive development.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“At Apios, we see cabin connectivity and the surrounding opportunities as the key area of development for the next 5-10 years, It has the potential to transform the journey from both a passenger and operator perspective. Leveraging the ability to provide a seamless hyper personalised on-board experience for passengers.

The capability to embrace ground-based practices of affiliate and partner-based marketing without being an intrusive part of the experience on board will transform the business case from traditional, past approaches, to on board connectivity and engagement.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Greg Mashlan, Head of Commercial Aviation, OneWeb.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“I predict that 2023 will be a milestone year for OneWeb and a watershed year for inflight connectivity.

OneWeb has now completed the active constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites needed to deliver truly global coverage and is already delivering service to businesses and communities in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and other countries above 50° North.

We expect global services for fixed and maritime customers to be activated later this year – with aviation services being available from very early in 2024.  We continue to work with our distribution and technology partners to develop and deploy an inflight connectivity solution ‘for the aviation industry, by the aviation industry’. We’re working with OEMs on linefit solutions and expect our first retrofit STCs to be granted before the end of the year.

In the meantime, unfortunately, the outlook for passenger connectivity for the remaining months of 2023, remains more of the same – often inconsistent and frustrating connected experiences.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“The demand for connectivity has increased dramatically, partly because the pandemic forced everyone to become more connected in order to cope with the isolation of lockdown, and partly as a result of the increasing number of connected applications that control almost every aspect of our daily lives.

These new behaviours have been learnt – and will not be unlearnt, it is therefore only reasonable to assume that the demand and expectation of having inflight connectivity is going to grow. The availability and performance of inflight connectivity is going to become an increasingly important factor in a selection of an airline.

Euroconsult recently predicted that in-flight aviation connectivity would grow by a factor of more than 10, from 90 gigabits per second (Gbps) in 2022 to more than one terabit per second (Tbps) by 2031.

As the airline industry has had a decade or more of the current Satellite options the advancement of LEO and newer high capacity satellite bandwidth will help drive the airlines toward a Free or charge, or Freemium model as seen with the first mover airlines in the USA. This will have considerable flow on effects for all airlines over the next 5 years as this will become just another “hygiene” must have for airlines.

At OneWeb we believe the days of measuring inflight connectivity through Kbps and even Mbps are numbered. With the high-speed, low latency connectivity our network will be able to deliver both globally and consistently, the inflight connectivity narrative will be altered forever.

We often talk about the 5C’s of connectivity – coverage, connection, capacity, consistency and community – and OneWeb delivers on them all. However, what OneWeb truly delivers is an inflight connectivity experience that is limited only by the users’ imagination, not the available bandwidth.

Airlines and their passengers will, with OneWeb, forget about bandwidth, forget about coverage – so seamless, so consistent, and so normal and almost unremarkable the experience will be.

We will also see an evolution in terms of the type of aircraft on which broadband inflight connectivity becomes possible – and also expected. Today, the main barrier to connectivity on regional jets has been the size and weight of the hardware needed.

The larger mechanically steered antenna that are needed to connect with GEO stationary satellites are simply too bulky and too heavy to consider fitting to a regional aircraft such as a CRJ or Embraer 170. Thanks to OneWeb and our technology partner Stellar Blu, a next generation Electronically Steered Antenna (ESA), is now available for smaller regional jets.

These terminals are significantly lighter and smaller than existing aviation antennas – and without the need for a radome have a substantially lower profile. Yet, despite the size the performance is far from diminished with high throughput capabilities of 195/32 Mbps (DL/UL).

The next 5-years will also witness the evolution of hybrid inflight connectivity offering. OneWeb is already enjoying advanced discussions with many airlines, together with our distribution partners, on offering a hybrid solution that leverages the benefits of both LEO and GEO.

The ESA antenna being developed by Stellar Blu are LEO/GEO compatible – the first of its type for our industry– as recently demonstrated by Intelsat on their CRJ aircraft. 

The ability to integrate with existing GEO constellations will provide airlines with flexibility and peace of mind as the new LEO capabilities of the OneWeb network are deployed and proven, and provide unbroken connectivity over territories where for regulatory reasons, OneWeb is unable to provide service.

The best way to provide airlines and passengers with faster, more consistent and truly global broadband service is with a variety technologies and partnerships, leveraging the power of existing GEO networks and augmenting them with the clear benefits of LEO is the way forward.

We’re witnessing the dawn of a new era for mobile connectivity where new technologies as well as new flexible thinking and collaboration will finally meet the needs to today’s digital airline and digital passenger.

This new dawn is just on the horizon, as demonstrated by the recent Alaskan Airlines announcement that it plans to be the first global airline to offer high-speed Wi-Fi on regional jets using Intelsat’s ESA which, having been developed by Stellar Blu, also has the capability to communicate with OneWeb’s LEO satellites in addition to Inteslat’s geostationary (GEO) satellites.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“The OneWeb Connected Passenger Report, published at AIX in 2022, found that 7 out of 10 respondents claim they’ve never tried inflight Wi-Fi citing perceived unreliability, cost and pre-established coping mechanisms as their reason for not connecting.

Furthermore, 43% of those who have ‘connected’ called the experience frustrating. This level of experience would certainly impact the adoption, or ‘take-rate’.

Take Rates have been consistently in the high single digitals or low tweens for many years on most airlines, with the biggest factors being the frustrating user experience and of course the costs.

When Freemium models are deployed (where you get for example messaging for free and pay to  upgrade to streaming) the take rates jump to the early 20’s to the 30 percent take rates.

The move to a full free model where using the internet services on aircraft is akin to using Wi-fi in a hotel we can expect to see take rates in the 65% range.

However, the key to sustaining and improving the ‘take-rate’ is a consistent, home-equivalent connected experience, where users can be as entertained or as productive as they would be on the ground. OneWeb delivers this experience and delivers it globally, even over the polar routes or the widest oceans which to date have remained a connectivity blind spot.

The low latency connectivity inherent in our low earth orbit solution, which is orbiting at just 1,200km from earth’s surface, as opposed to 36,000 kms for our GEO satellite cousins, delivers a far richer, immersive experience – without annoying lag, buffering pages and out of synch audio.

What’s more with our ESA solutions for all types of aircraft from wide-bodied, single aisle and even regional jets, OneWeb is able to deliver the utopia of a consistent connected passenger experience across fleets and across route networks.

Airlines will now be able to offer passengers the same high performance inflight connectivity on all their routes and all their aircraft opening up additional opportunities for partnerships, subscription packages and loyalty schemes. All of which should see the ‘take-rate’ improve dramatically.” 

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“There is little doubt that passenger demand for connectivity is as real on a short and medium haul flights as it is on a long-haul service – perhaps even more given the lack of other options such as seat back inflight entertainment. With over a terabyte per second of usable capacity across the global network, OneWeb has more than enough bandwidth to support the streaming behaviour of today’s passenger.

The barrier to adoption here is not technology but building a robust business case to support the investment. The influence of inflight connectivity on passenger choice of airlines is only going to increase – and those airlines who are late to adopt an IFC strategy risk losing market share to more connected alternatives.

In this way, passenger expectation will provide the ‘push’ needed to create the business case for the implementation of the inflight connectivity strategy, whilst the value driven offering of OneWeb and our distribution partners, should make the numbers more palatable.

Our Distribution Partners, Panasonic, Intelsat, Hughes and Eutelsat have developed innovative and creative packages which give the airlines far more flexibility to scale and tailor their IFC offering based on levels of connectivity, class of travel, loyalty status and a host of other variables.”  

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“First and foremost, the EU plan is to ‘allow’ airlines to provide their passengers aboard flights in the EU the ability to use their mobile phones to the maximum of their capacity and features – where available this will mean 5G connectivity. The question remains who is going to pay for the connectivity, how much and of course the question of consistency and coverage.

The 5G network in Europe is far from complete and it remains to be seen what the performance will be like, especially over remote areas or large bodies of water. This is unlikely to be THE solution that solves IFC in Europe, however, it’s certainly a great move forward for the EU and their citizens.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“Discussions surrounding the connectivity of an aircraft usually revolve around the Wi-Fi experience that enables passengers to work, stream their favourite content or bombard jealous friends with endless selfies. But in-flight connectivity continually promises so much more.

The use of data for onboard retail, predictive maintenance, flight optimisation, fuel efficiency and customer relationship management are but a few examples.

Unfortunately, to date, these promises have remained largely unfulfilled, or certainly not to the degree that commercial or operational benefits have been materially met.

OneWeb will deliver a global, consistent and value-driven connectivity solution that will fulfil airline’s every connected aircraft dream. The aviation industry is on the cusp of a data revolution that will transform almost every aspect of an airlines operation.

Digitalisation is proliferating throughout our industry and with good reason – from LCCs to fully established legacy carriers, there are so many benefits to going digital. In 2017, Oliver Wyman estimated that new connectivity and advance analytics of a ‘connected aircraft’ could save the airline industry $5 billion annually.

At OneWeb we are thinking much bigger, in terms of the connected airline. If we consider an aircraft to be but one part of an airline’s ecosystem, arguably the most important (and certainly the most expensive) part, then it stands to reason it should be fully connected, absolutely everywhere that aircraft flies – only then, can that aircraft be part of a connected airline that can truly harness the power of digitalisation.

Imagine the power of real-time CRM, maintenance, asset management, crew management, fuel management etc – not just for an aircraft, but consolidated and built into REAL value derived from the holistic airline picture. Let us not ignore the environmental benefits, these are also substantial and highly significant.

The best part of this picture is that it’s here and now. All these things are within our capability to deliver. This decade should see not only the rapid implementation of IFC solutions to match actual requirements, but also the end of the trend of tedious bi-annual meetings about recommendations and standards that take decades to implement – often obsolete by the time they are delivered!

The IFC industry is moving on rapidly and we owe it to ourselves to serve our airline partners to change the way we deliver, responsibly. The connected airline is achievable, mutually valuable and sustainable. OneWeb is changing the way it will be delivered; limited by imagination, not by available bandwidth.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Martin Orzechowski, Business Development Manager, AERQ.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the aircraft cabin in 2023?

“We see 2023 as the kick-off year for LEO satellite connectivity and free in-flight Wi-Fi. As the first airlines invest in LEO technology, others will closely observe their progress. These investments will set the stage for offering free in-flight Wi-Fi, compelling airlines using older connectivity solutions to follow suit.

As a result, passengers can look forward to the introduction of a more seamless internet experience like their home connections with select airlines.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“In the next five years, in-flight connectivity is expected to undergo significant changes, driven by the increasing demand for a seamless and frictionless travel experience.

Passengers will experience more seamless connectivity as they transition between different transportation modes, such as ground transportation to air travel. This could include features like automatic synchronisation of entertainment content and personal preferences across various travel providers.

In addition, connectivity will become a more integral part of the in-flight experience and be offered free of charge to passengers. Because of this, airlines may explore new business models and revenue streams, such as more partnerships with content providers and streaming services, in-flight e-commerce and shopping, expanded in-flight advertising and sponsored content, or even premium connectivity add-ons like priority bandwidth when the cabin network is strained.

By exploring these new business models and revenue streams, airlines can not only monetize their investment in in-flight connectivity but also create a more personalised and engaging experience for passengers.

As the demand for connectivity continues to grow, airlines that can adapt and innovate in this space will be well-positioned to differentiate themselves and generate additional revenue.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connectivity and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“We expect the role of Wi-Fi in the cabin to evolve significantly in the coming years, driven by advancements in satellite technology and the increasing expectations of passengers for seamless connectivity.

With the up-and-coming LEO satellite constellations of Starlink, OneWeb, Telesat, and Amazon Kuiper, passengers will experience faster and more reliable Wi-Fi connections. This will make it easier to stream content, take part in video conferences, and access other high-bandwidth applications, resulting in higher take rates and greater overall satisfaction with in-flight Wi-Fi.

With the evolution of in-flight connectivity, Wi-Fi will also play a more integral role in delivering a personalised experience for passengers. This could include syncing personal entertainment preferences, accessing customised services, and staying up to date with flight information. As a result, passengers will see in-flight Wi-Fi as an essential part of their travel experience.

Airlines may also reconsider pricing strategies and explore new ways to incentivise usage. This could include free or discounted Wi-Fi for all or a selected group of passengers, bundling Wi-Fi access with other in-flight services, or providing tiered pricing options based on speed and data allowances.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flight has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Airlines must adopt various strategies and invest in technologies to meet passengers’ expectations. One obvious solution would be to invest in next-generation satellite and air-to-ground connectivity that offer faster speeds, lower latency, and higher capacity at lower cost.

Airlines could also establish partnerships with content providers and streaming services to optimize content delivery. Additionally, airlines could cache popular content locally on the aircraft to reduce the need to stream content over in-flight connectivity to save bandwidth.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“The implementation of 5G in aviation demands substantial investments in infrastructure and requires strong collaboration among airlines, connectivity providers, and regulatory bodies, which might pose a considerable challenge. While 5G may not completely revolutionise in-flight connectivity as we know it, it will serve as a valuable enabler for a more seamless and frictionless passenger experience within the aircraft cabin.”

Any other comments or insights you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“Digitalisation and connectivity are reshaping the aviation industry, creating new opportunities and challenges for airlines, passengers, and service providers. As a result, we will see that in-flight entertainment and in-flight connectivity systems will continue to progressively converge, ultimately forming fully integrated IFEC ecosystems.

By embracing these changes and focusing on innovation, collaboration, and sustainability, airlines can enhance the passenger experience, improve operational efficiency, and stay competitive in an ever-evolving market.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Matt Landel, Director of Applied Technology, Astronics.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Customer desires and expectations will continue to drive installation and upgrade of cabin connectivity systems. The move towards ubiquitous connectivity and various forms of complimentary service are following the same evolutions seen in the ground hospitality industry over the last decade.

Increased bandwidth to more seats in combination with streaming IFE will drive transition to the newer Wi-Fi technologies already incorporated into recent personal electronics devices. More aircraft will have IFC capabilities added and commercial airline passengers will seek consistent, easy access across the entirety of airline fleets.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“There is and will continue to be a roll-out of new technologies into the in-flight connectivity space. Airlines and OEMs will continue to focus on long-term return-on-investment given that installed connectivity equipment will remain on the aircraft for a significant length of time.

Both factory installations and retrofit installations will move further towards implementation of industry standards that can help future-proof the investment as the landscape of technology and network service providers evolves.

As new technologies enter the market, the performance, size, cost and ease of installation and servicing are all improving. Advances in electronics and RF components are allowing for more compact installations and improved performance, limited only by the physics of capturing and transmitting the energy required to move data at the desired speeds. These advances are happening in all three domains: ground, satellite, and aircraft.

Network architectures are leveraging these advances to provide dynamic allocation of bandwidth. Traditionally, bandwidth from a satellite was distributed to and shared by users on a continental basis, now GEO/HTS and LEO/MEO beams can distribute bandwidth into much smaller geographic areas.

Advances in modulation and satellite capabilities have dramatically increased the bandwidth that can be passed through an individual satellite, with modern satellites now supporting tens, hundreds, and even thousands of individual beams down to the earth.

ARINC-791 and 792 standards are being updated and advanced to increase commonality, especially in the area of provisioning commercial aircraft for IFC from the factory.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of WiFi changing in the cabin going forward?

“The application of technology on multiple fronts is improving the reliability and bandwidth available to the aircraft. Astronics is fielding systems that consistently provide better than 96% in-flight availability including regulatory and beam-switch outages. Increased bandwidth, reliability, and lower usage costs will all increase take-rates and improve airline customer satisfaction scores.

Wi-Fi 6E will allow increased capability and reliability of the Wi-Fi distribution of both connectivity and high-definition streaming entertainment within the aircraft.

New and existing technologies are being developed, specified, and deployed to aircraft that reduce the friction required to access and pay for services. Existing airline loyalty applications will be upgraded to support and facilitate connections through automated authentication authorisation, and accounting.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Wi-Fi 6E (and beyond) will allow increased capability and reliability of the Wi-Fi distribution of both connectivity and high-definition streaming entertainment within the aircraft. The added capabilities and new bandwidth provided by Wi-Fi 6E is supported by a large percentage of personal electronics devices allowing for highly reliable content streaming.

Both installed and carry-on equipment is now available to support roll-out of streaming IFE to smaller regional jets flying sort and medium flights. This allows airlines to field common IFE content across all equipment fleets. Loyalty apps on personal electronics devices will track entertainment choices and allow seamless continuation of content viewing as passengers transition from leg to leg of their journey.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“Different cultures have different approaches to public telephony, which may limit acceptance and deployment of some elements of 5G technologies within aircraft. The standardisation available with 5G technologies provides an additional framework for establishing frictionless connection through automated authentication authorisation, and accounting and can facilitate teaming between the airlines and connectivity sponsors.

5G technologies also provide an alternative radio connection framework that is already built into most personal electronics devices. Sharing and managing of both connectivity resources can provide new capabilities and features for passengers and airline operations including IOT and smart components within the aircraft.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“There are a variety of new satellite, network, and technology promises being offered, all with various time frames and different levels of maturity. Establishing approaches for IFC equipment that provides for agnostic network operation, commonality, and future-proof abilities to grow are required. Astronics has established and demonstrated solutions to the various problems of emerging technologies over the past 5 years.

Leveraging our extensive experience with existing technologies and all of the major satellite networks, these solutions address all of the hot-points of commercial operators while allowing a future-proof path to deploying these emerging technologies.

As a developer, integrator, provider, and servicer of multiple SATCOM IFC solutions around the world on a wide variety of aircraft, Astronics has the experience to understand the trade-offs offered by the various existent and emerging technologies. By leveraging this experience, we can address all the issues that each technology brings and provide the optimal solution for our customer’s requirements.

Astronics expects continued growth in the application of emerging technologies and products and we work with our partners to provide agnostic and future-proof solutions to the commercial, business, and government customers that are looking to add or increase the IFC footprint of their aircraft fleets.

Whether it be size, thermal, cost, performance, or ease of installation, Astronics’ proven ability to provide the best solution to our customers will support this growth over the next 5-10 years.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Dave Bijur, SVP, Commercial Aviation at Intelsat.

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next 12 months and the next five years?

“In-flight connectivity will become even more prevalent and advanced than it is today. Overall, Intelsat in-flight connectivity will continue to evolve, providing passengers with a more seamless and enjoyable travel experience.

Here are a couple of predictions for what we can expect to see in the cabin in the coming months and years:

• Increased bandwidth: Intelsat’s new ESA, a GEO+LEO solution produces the best combination of performance, coverage, and reliability in the market. The solution leverages the best capabilities of both networks and is built on an integrated infrastructure that relies on hundreds of satellites – in geostationary (GEO) and low-earth orbit (LEO) – providing airlines and their passengers with more IFC capacity and speed in more places, including polar regions.

• Enhanced entertainment options: Passengers will be able to stream movies, TV shows and music in higher quality, and play games, thanks to the new streaming-fast speeds that come with our multi-orbit satellite connectivity.”

Electronically steered array (ESA) antenna and Multi-Orbit Satellite Strategy

“There is tremendous interest in the Intelsat electronically steered array (ESA) antenna that enables global streaming-fast Wi-Fi service and is available to airlines around the world.

Intelsat’s ESA is the only commercially available antenna in the aviation industry that can operate between low-Earth orbit satellites and geostationary satellites. Announced in June 2022, the new antenna has been accumulating flight hours with Ball, Stellar Blu Solutions, Intelsat and OneWeb engineers validating antenna and network performance.

In early 2023, Intelsat successfully demonstrated the new system to global airlines on the company’s Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet outfitted with the new antenna and inflight Wi-Fi system. With peak inflight download speeds exceeding 275Mbps, airline customers were able to participate in live virtual meetings, stream media and stay connected without interruptions.

By using the Intelsat and OneWeb satellite networks together, Intelsat can offer the benefits of LEO’s low latency along with the redundancy GEO provides to address network hotspots that LEO networks on their own cannot address. Whether aircraft are flying polar regions or over the most populated cities in the world, the ESA antenna will offer seamless coverage from takeoff to touchdown.

At just 90 pounds and with no moving parts, the new antenna stands just 3.5 inches tall on the top of the aircraft. The terminal’s low profile has the lowest drag of any product Intelsat has ever offered, reducing CO2 emissions for airlines.

After installing the system in December 2022 on our regional jet, we’ve been hard at work perfecting this new technology and have taken some of the world’s leading airlines for test flights. An antenna without moving parts, that is much smaller than its predecessors, enables airlines to compete in the marketplace, delight their guests and have confidence that Intelsat’s multi-orbit antenna will provide the best performing inflight connectivity experience in the market.”

Here are some of the other key trends that we can expect to see:

• Higher speeds: With advanced satellite technology and multi-orbit connectivity, Intelsat’s ESA will deliver streaming quality for every passenger. ESA’s peak in-flight download speeds exceed 275Mbps, allowing passengers to stream movies, play games, and work online without any lag.

• More personalized experiences: Airlines will continue to integrate entitlements like loyalty and seat validation to offer more personalized experiences.

• Greater integration: In-flight connectivity will become more integrated with other systems in both the cabin and flight deck. This includes integration with seatback entertainment and connected aircraft solutions like electronic flight bags, real-time weather data and flight profile optimization applications. For instance, passengers may be able to use their own devices to control their in-flight entertainment systems or receive real-time updates on their flight status. Pilots will have access to real-time information to make better decisions enroute, improving the flight experience and saving fuel.

“In conclusion, the next five years will see significant advancements in in-flight connectivity. Passengers can expect faster Wi-Fi speeds, more personalized experiences, and greater integration with other systems.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“There is significant interest among North American and European airlines, in particular, as they look to boost their Wi-Fi service on shorter flights operated by their regional jet fleets, especially those that still have air-to-ground service. LEO’s low latency along with the redundancy GEO provides addresses network hotspots that LEO networks on their own cannot address.

Alaska Airlines recently announced plans to use Intelsat’s ESA terminal and IFC services aboard its fleet of Embraer regional jet fleet. Intelsat has supplemental-type certificate programs underway for a wide range of aircraft and expects to begin delivering and installing shipsets in early 2024.

As Alaska Airlines announced, the new system will debut on Horizon Air in early 2024 and roll out across the regional jet fleet, including regional partner SkyWest, over a two-year period. With nearly all of Alaska’s mainline fleet set to feature satellite Wi-Fi by this April – also installed by Intelsat – the airline is on track to provide consistent streaming-fast Wi-Fi across their entire fleet by 2026.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with William Huot-Marchand, SVP Inflight Connectivity, Inmarsat Aviation.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Renewed appetite for travel has come with new expectations for passengers’ inflight experience – and getting this right has become non-negotiable for airlines. This year is going to be all about unlocking what passengers want while in the air – which is also the key to commercial rewards. At the heart of this is the need to be connected.

Our recent Passenger Experience Survey found that over three quarters (77%) of passengers surveyed now view inflight Wi-Fi as critical to their inflight experience – an increase of 40% since 2018. Moreover, 82% of passengers said that they would be more likely to rebook with an airline that provided quality Wi-Fi, demonstrating that reliable connectivity is now a must-have, not a nice-to-have. So, we know the demand is growing – now airlines must keep up, and deliver the connectivity experience their passengers crave.

I anticipate we’ll see more ‘live’ connected experiences in the cabin this year. This follows our work with Qatar Airways during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where our GX Aviation inflight broadband service powered more than 50 live streamed matches to passengers flying during the tournament.

We envisage this level of experience will continue for passengers, who don’t want to miss out on the moments that matter most – and expect to experience them live, from 30,000 feet.

Additionally, we’ll see airlines have more flexibility when choosing connectivity for their fleets – thanks to connectivity catalogue solutions like Airbus’ HBCplus. As the first managed service provider (MSP) selected by Airbus, we are excited to bring our global, Ka-band GX Aviation service – and our MSP expertise – to more customers in the future.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“The next few years is going to be about a shift to personalisation. A huge 97% of passengers say they use their personal devices while flying, which presents an unmissable opportunity for airlines to use inflight connectivity to cater to exactly what their passengers want and need.

That’s why we created OneFi – our digital passenger engagement platform that’s been developed with inflight connectivity at its core. It offers a portal solution for airlines to bring inflight services together to increase passenger engagement and create ancillary revenue opportunities. OneFi covers everything from entertainment and media to loyalty and advertising.

Crucially, the solution is flexible and scalable so that airlines can offer what they want, when they want – and grow these offerings as time goes on, in line with their passengers’ ever-changing expectations. At a time when brand loyalty is harder than ever to earn, it’s vital that airlines shore up their offering to keep passengers coming back for more.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of WiFi changing in the cabin going forward?

“Our recent Passenger Experience Survey brought to light not only the increasing demand for inflight Wi-Fi, but crucially, the growing expectation that this connectivity should be free at the point of use. More than 4 in 5 passengers globally said that they expect Wi-Fi to be free on long-haul flights, while almost half agreed for short-haul flights.

The tide is certainly moving in the direction of free Wi-Fi – and among our customer base, we see take-up rates of up to 6x more for free Wi-Fi, and 4x more for freemium, than we do for paid.

However, airlines have to be able to offer the capacity, certainty, and capabilities required to handle these increased take-up rates. Several of our airline customers are already offering free inflight connectivity – including Singapore Airlines and Iberia – on either free or freemium models.

We know that the key to delivering high-speed broadband to more passengers on more flights is the right technologies – which our GX Aviation service brings.

As Wi-Fi becomes even more prevalent in the cabin, airlines have to adopt the solutions that will guarantee connectivity to every passenger, on every flight. Critical to this is our fully-funded satellite roadmap.

As part of this, our recently launched I-6 F1 and F2 are the most sophisticated commercial communications satellites ever which will help our customers benefit even further from the coverage and certainty that GX Aviation offers, well into the 2040s and beyond.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Ensuring passengers can access the content they want, when they want it, on every route will be paramount going forward. We firmly believe that the best way to enable airlines to offer the best possible inflight connectivity experience – for content streaming and beyond – is through a multi-dimensional network that brings together multiple technologies across orbits, like Inmarsat ORCHESTRA.

A platform for continuous innovation, ORCHESTRA will synthesise an expanding combination of network services to intelligently orchestrate our backbone GEO network with LEO, HEO, and terrestrial 5G. This will deliver the best possible connectivity experience for every customer, and every passenger, on every flight.

New innovations will also be key, from dynamic beamforming technologies that will enable capacity to be concentrated wherever it is needed most, to new satellites in highly-elliptical orbit that will be dedicated to the Arctic region – providing connectivity on flights from the Middle East to the US West Coast.

“Also, it comes back to personalisation. Passengers want an experience that feels bespoke to them – and the best way to do this is to use a solution, such as Inmarsat’s OneFi, a digital passenger engagement platform which has been developed with inflight connectivity at its core. Bringing inflight services together increases passenger engagement, so that on any route, passengers can watch what they want, when they want.

And flexible modular solutions like this mean that as short- and medium-haul passengers’ expectations change, airlines can scale their offering to match their demand.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Jean-Marc Thomas, Managing Director APAC, Spafax.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023? 

“Clearly, the connectivity and IFE industry is poised to experience tremendous growth in 2023 and beyond, as it’s projected to more than double by 2030 to more than $12 billion US. While the United States and Europe are currently leading the growth, connectivity will be a must-have for all airlines, even low-cost carriers, sooner than later.

Today’s passengers are increasingly vocal about their need for constant connectivity, and the rapidly maturing sector with numerous network options is making this possible.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years? 

“With such growth on the horizon for in-cabin connectivity, within the next five years I fully expect we will see many more airlines rethinking their IFE strategies and taking a much closer look at how to best utilize their resources across those offerings.

For example, consider the concept of e-commerce platforms, where a passenger gets an extra financial incentive for purchasing through the airline’s platform. It’s about influencing the flow and using that connectivity in a smart way. I think we’ll see more partnerships being built like this, that will entice the passengers to use those airline channels versus just going straight to the internet for their retail purchases.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for onboard Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward? 

“That estimate doesn’t surprise me because oftentimes passengers have a poor experience trying to connect. In many cases they don’t even bother after a few failed attempts, or maybe somebody sends them picture and it burns through half of the free data allowance. That can be incredibly frustrating, so inevitably, that’s part of the reason why some passengers are not logging in.  

Once connectivity becomes more stable and faster across the board, uptake will improve. I think the 6% ‘take-rate’ figure indicates that airlines need to think about hard about the options they have in place of onboard Wi-Fi. In the place of connectivity, what are they offering to create a positive experience for passengers? Can passengers easily connect from their own devices to the airline’s IFE platform to watch movies, play games, shop? If not, that’s a huge opportunity missed.” 

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand? 

“Airlines must be creative and forward-thinking as they implement an IFE strategy that takes full advantage of connectivity, no matter the duration of the flight. But even short and medium flights present an opportunity for airlines and brands to create a better passenger experience and engage with them in a positive, impactful way.

To do this, airlines need to have solutions in place that enable them to access real-time data, update inventory quickly and painlessly, and generally become more reactive and nimbler to the needs of both their passengers and brand partners.”  

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity? 

“Undoubtedly, granting passengers access to 5G networks while inflight would represent a significant leap forward in cabin connectivity. It will allow for streaming and most likely for digital media advertising as we know it on the ground. However, deploying 5G networks is a highly complex process, involving both technical and financial challenges.

The required investments in new infrastructure will be substantial and may prove cost-prohibitive for many airlines, even with the EU’s approval of the technology.

Additionally, as mentioned previously given the low adoption rate of inflight Wi-Fi by passengers, many airlines may be hesitant to make further investments in this area until there is a significant shift in customer behaviour. As a result, how quickly airlines will adopt 5G technology remains to be seen.” 

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity? 

“The explosive growth of connectivity and IFE offerings presents a huge opportunity for airlines and brands in terms of ancillary revenue, loyalty, brand awareness, and creating a positive passenger experience. But airlines must be very strategic about their approach to ensure they’re optimizing their resources and budget for the best possible ROI.  

The inflight entertainment experience provides a valuable space for airlines to draw passengers into their world, communicate with them and introduce them to brand experiences that earn additional revenue. It’s important to give passengers the option to use the internet but surround that experience with engaging and curated content experiences so their attention isn’t totally lost to the web.  

I think the airlines that will really set themselves apart will be the ones that have great connectivity but also offer high-quality entertainment options presented alongside that, with unique or early-window content that can’t be found on OTT streaming platforms.  

When passenger wants to stay within the environment you’ve created because they’re engaged and entertained, that’s a win-win for the airline and any brand partners the airline is working with in terms of IFE advertising or sponsorship. At Spafax, we help airlines be creative in how they commercialize their connected onboard experience, making sure the traffic is flowing in a way that lets the airline benefit.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Reza Rasoulian, vice president, Hughes.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“That demand for data will continue to skyrocket! Passengers today fully expect a connected onboard experience as if they’re at home. Not only do they want to stream movies and TV shows, they want to shop, post selfies to Instagram and work using VPNs and video-conferencing.

With new very high throughput geostationary satellites, like the Hughes JUPITER™ 3, as well as Low Earth Orbit satellite constellations coming online later this year, the supply of inflight connectivity will finally start to catch up to demand, and passengers will start to make airline decisions based upon amenities such as free onboard Wi-Fi.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“Over the next five years, we’ll see more capacity and capability become available for inflight connectivity. What was once a “nice-to-have” perk of travel will evolve to be a “must-have” commodity that passengers expect to be available at all times and everywhere – whether over the Atlantic or in a busy airport hub.” 

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of WiFi changing in the cabin going forward?

“It wasn’t long ago that we had to leap through hoops (sim cards, anyone?) to access a mobile network in another country. In the same way that we expect our smartphones to work in any geography today, we’ll soon expect them to work at any altitude, anywhere in the world.

Luckily, the technology has arrived to make always available connectivity possible – combining the global coverage of the new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations – like Hughes Managed LEO with OneWeb service – with the capacity density of high-throughput geostationary satellites like the Hughes JUPITER™ 3.

Bringing multiple transports – or orbits – together into a seamless, blended solution will unlock all the potential of every available connection to deliver on the promise of always on, always available inflight connectivity.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“To continue to meet the demand for video streaming on every flight – long, medium and even short – airlines will need to make inflight Wi-Fi robust, resilient and free to passengers. This can be achieved best with a combination of both GEO and LEO satellite connectivity, along with intelligent, enabling technologies, integrated into a seamless connected solution.

The LEO capacity will meet the need for connectivity over oceans and polar regions while supporting low-latency applications (like VPNs) while the GEO capacity will ensure resiliency as well as the capacity density to meet the demand for bandwidth-hungry video streaming, even during busy air traffic times.

Airlines should be looking beyond single transport solutions to multi-transport implementations that can meet demand dynamically and reliably.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“I don’t see 5G onboard airlines revolutionizing the connected experience because, ultimately, it’s the backhaul connection by satellite (or air-to-ground) that determines the availability of bandwidth to meet passenger demand.   

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“An elevated connectivity experience in flight will enable new and innovative applications that will make air travel even more enjoyable. Real time weather information and telemetry for pilots could make for smoother or more efficient flights.

Efficient telemetry for proactive maintenance is possible, with passengers being able to connect seamlessly to latency sensitive applications like VPNs or even gaming applications!”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with David Fox, Vice President, Inflight & Connectivity Services, Deutsche Telekom.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Inflight connectivity is very attractive as it addresses two basic human needs: mobility and communication. Now add a human dream – flying – to these needs, and you easily understand how fascinating inflight connectivity really is. I see three trends of passenger behaviour when looking at the needs for inflight connectivity in the coming year and beyond:

The first is to stayconnected with family & friends.We are all humans and have a basic desire to catch up with family and friends and let them know how we are doing. Sharing special moments via social media channels, messaging or video calling each other has become a pattern, especially good experiences like flying to some exciting holiday destination.

The second is increased digital content consumption. Global online content consumption soared in the “main” pandemic years 2020 and 2021 when consumers spent almost double the time per day engaging with content. Connected TV options (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+) and Audio Streaming Apps (Spotify, Deezer, Tidal) were the main beneficiaries of this increase.

Airlines will want to offer these services as well, so their customers can benefit from a rich IFC experience.

The third is increased work-related consumption. With better connectivity on the go, travel times have increasingly become working times. This was initially a big argument for railway services. Now, airlines also want to offer connectivity so they can compete with the existing fast-train city-pair connections. This necessitates a reliable and fast internet connectivity onboard an airplane.

It also further drives the need for remote, work-based applications, for example participating in video conferences (like Zoom, MS Teams), or accessing cloud drives (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and VPN for Mail services.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“The technology to enable seamless or near-seamless access to inflight connectivity has been available for quite some time now, but it will only take off once MNOs truly start to bundle the access and make an easy-to-understand proposition available to a large subscriber base.

Offering easy, seamless access to mobile subscribers creates a dramatically improved passenger experience and generates significant value to both airlines and MNOs. However, while passenger Internet access enabled by near-seamless technologies is important, it is only one of many inflight connectivity use cases.

Onboard service offerings such as inflight entertainment, e-commerce and onboard IoT solutions are also contributing to the demand for more connectivity, as we step aboard again in increasing numbers after the airline industry’s gradual but continuous recovery from the pandemic.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“Ease of use and good value are the two main measures by which passengers evaluate inflight connectivity, and there is room for the improvement of both. The current multi-step process of getting online once aboard is still cumbersome and connectivity can be spotty.

To see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin, airlines are therefore in need of creating a unique harmonized passenger experience for all of their connected aircraft. And MNOs need to act and make this last slice of connectivity in the skies readily available to their subscribers as well.

Mobile network operators have taken action to support a harmonized inflight passenger experience on several fronts. A couple of years ago, Deutsche Telekom started to include inflight connectivity as part of its subscriber product portfolio, offering tariffs that include inflight connectivity either bundled-in or as a flat-rate option. Other MNOs have followed.

The availability of the service as part of a bundled product has immediately and positively impacted internet usage aboard.

Another harmonised connectivity service involves airline portals that provide the same gate-to-gate passenger experience to go online no matter what connectivity provider the airline is working with. Deutsche Telekom has partnered with carriers such as Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific to provide such a platform which is seamless and easy for passengers to use – right from the start of their journey until they arrive at their destination.

It provides single-click log-on and “smart-pricing” models that enable airlines to boost Wi-Fi purchases and thus revenues by tailoring offers to the length of the flight. Deutsche Telekom also offers voucher systems and APIs that allow passengers to purchase access before their flight and help airlines to run marketing campaigns.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Inflight entertainment is especially important to airline passengers to pass the time whilst travelling, and streaming content makes up most of the entertainment services they are looking for. To meet this customer demand, airlines are looking to partner with different vendors who offer streaming services that customers are already used to on the ground.

Airlines also offer specific Wi-Fi packages for streaming to make access to these services as easy as possible for their customer base.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“We consider 5G as next evolution in mobile radio and are aware of the EU commission’s plans. While we are currently focusing on delivering 5G on the ground and are making great progress as one of the industry’s leaders in the development of a 5G ecosystem, we find that the value-add of 5G for use in aircraft is still limited via-a-vis WiFi.

We are not yet seeing demand from the airline sector who needs to evaluate the added cost for their customer base. Also, 5G will be possible for user access via so-called Pico-cells whilst in the air, but the connectivity between ground-based mobile networks and the aircraft itself will continue to be based on satellites.

Subject to market demand and developments, however, we are of course prepared to customize the technology also for aviation use cases, similar as we did for LTE.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“Our top priorities for the digitalisation and inflight connectivity topics are to first focus on customer centricity for all our product developments. We plan to do that by introducing regular customer experience measures & formats.

Second, we want to harmonize all digital touchpoints and deliver features that ease inflight connectivity for our partners based on APIs to stay flexible and be able to adjust quicker. Last, we are in discussions with our airline customers to develop joint measures for placing digital retail offers.”

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Juraj Siska, Co-founder, IdeaNova Technologies.  

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“IFC availability will continue to increase due to new players entering the space and existing players increasing their capacity.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“We believe that larger airlines will provide in-flight connectivity free of charge either through bundled pricing or as an airline sponsored product. Budget airlines will leverage it to generate additional revenue. The majority of airlines will listen to customer demand for connectivity with their IT initiatives.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of WiFi changing in the cabin going forward?

“We see that both software and hardware technologies will help to resolve this issue. Software implementations such as better compression of video streams, avoidance of redundant files, hardware solutions that leverage Wi-Fi 6 protocols and hardware/software implementations of Edge Caching will result in higher customer satisfaction.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“This can be improved by better content delivery of aircraft cached content, better compression technologies for both stream and cached content and improved bandwidth will help to address this demand.”

Any other comments or insight you would like to share around the topics of digitalisation and connectivity?

“We foresee a growing convergence of connectivity and entertainment, which will benefit the passenger. We think the future is in providing more accessible content on aircraft, making the airline not only the content provider, but also the enabler of content delivery from many sources, ranging from user-generated, independent and Hollywood studio providers.

Our company has been spearheading innovation in this space for the last 15 years and we are excited to unveil new products at AIX.”  

The AIX team sat down with aerospace thought-leaders, market disruptors and established companies to discuss how Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) can keep up with changing passenger expectations.

The team spoke with Dirk Lindemeier, Chief Commercial Officer, SkyFive AG.

What are your predictions for connectivity in the cabin in 2023?

“Market dynamics increased remarkably! Airlines are embracing the topic again, after having overcome the pandemic. The traditional satellite industry keeps consolidating, and the long-awaited transition to a new broadband era has started.

At SkyFive we experience a lot of interest for broadband services based on our A2G solution, which started proliferating in the Middle East as the next major market.

The regulatory front is in motion, too, with the European Commission making spectrum available for 5G in the cabin. In summary, airlines and also mobile operators are taking a fresh look at the opportunity, and we can expect to see some exciting announcements at AIX.”

How do you see in-flight connectivity evolving in the next five years?

“At SkyFive we firmly believe that it will become the norm rather than staying the exception. Plenty of surveys confirmed the passenger desire to stay connected during the flight – but that’s not telling us much, as people want to stay connected pretty much everywhere anyhow.

Within the next 5 years we as an industry rather have to focus on how to actually deliver against the passenger expectation, in a profitable manner. My benchmark here is the sports industry in the United States, where clubs invested considerably in getting their stadiums properly connected and, in parallel, developed sophisticated means of digitally engaging with their fans and paying back the stadium investments through app-based sales.”

Some estimations have put the “take-rate” for on-board Wi-Fi at just 6%, with some lamenting the poor connection and inability to stream content.

How do you see the role of Wi-Fi changing in the cabin going forward?

“From our point of view the current model is simply broken, which unfortunately has led to a lot “connectivity fatigue” among airlines. Essentially 3 things have to be accomplished to fix this: a step change in performance, such that the experience matches with passengers’ expectations and 60% rather than 6% of people can go online.

Then a significant reduction of cost, such that connectivity becomes a positive business case for airlines (which today it is not). And finally, a radical simplification of how to access the service, such that passengers can come online with a single click and without the need to make a manual payment.”

The demand to stream content including on short and medium flights has proliferated.

How will airlines ensure they continue to meet this demand?

“Such flights are really the sweet spot for our A2G solution, for a couple of reasons: firstly, the A2G system is so compact and cost-efficient that it can easily be fitted on any single-aisle aircraft, including smaller regional jets and turboprops, which typically serve the shorter routes.

Secondly, airlines can afford to turn today’s high price/low adoption paradigm upside down and offer Wi-Fi to the masses at the price of a cup of coffee.

Thirdly, seamless access through passengers’ mobile subscriptions has a very strong case here, as people do not want to interrupt any of their ongoing activities while being onboard the aircraft. And fourthly, connecting a new set of passengers 4-5 times a day on a smaller aircraft equipped with a cheap A2G system yields a much better ROI than doing the same once or twice a day on a larger aircraft with an expensive satellite system.”

The EU commission has unveiled plans for airlines to implement 5G technologies onboard for passengers.

Do you see this revolutionising onboard connectivity?

“We welcome all attempts of the European Commission that are geared towards improving the connectivity of passengers onboard of aircraft. Making radio spectrum available for this purpose is a strong statement, and the concept of deploying a single network that all mobile operators can offer their services over has been well proven in other cases where a lot of people want to connect in a somewhat hard-to-access location, such as, the London tube.

As a result, passengers will just remain attached to their mobile operator like on the ground, and airlines will need a strong datalink between the cabin and the ground for connecting them all to the Internet.”