Airbus has long offered an inflight connectivity backbone on board its aircraft, enabling approved aero ISPs to interface with the architecture to support their airline customers’ various onboard Internet and connected in-seat IFE needs. Pioneered by Airbus and Kid-Systeme in 2007, ALNA – or Airline Network Architecture – was the first inflight connectivity hardware and software system available as linefit on all Airbus aircraft.
Now Airbus is inviting a cadre of new wireless partners to interface with its ALNA architecture to offer streaming entertainment solutions to airlines, initially for Airbus A320 and A330 family aircraft.
Under the airframer’s optional new Open Software Platform (OSP) program, Airbus provides the embedded servers, routers, Wi-Fi access points and operating software for the W-IFE solution. Airlines then have the flexibility to choose from a growing portfolio of partners who provide the software and content (including ‘airline native’ apps) to lo