Every novel seat design isn’t just a #PaxEx pathfinder: it’s also a pioneer project for safety regulators and certification of the seat itself and those that will come after it. With a new generation of herringbones, including the Thompson Aero Seating Vantage Solo, flying into the market, Runway Girl Network sat down over a call to talk design and certification with Thompson executives Jonny McGreevy (head of design), Martin Allen (head of certification) and Andy Morris (vice president, commercial at AVIC Cabin Systems).
As a cleansheet design, one of the benefits that Thompson had when coming fresh to Solo is that it was conceived, designed and developed specifically for the single-aisle market. This means that the seatmaker could do things it wasn’t able to do if it had started with an existing product that it was trying to make work in the space of a narrowbody.
ZTE Corporation is working to bring air-to-ground (ATG)-based inflight connectivity to Chinese operators. In a recent article published by
The Mobile Network, Liu Weiwei, general manager of ATG Product at ZTE, revealed that the firm’s solution is ready for takeoff. Runway Girl Network connected with the ZTE executive to learn more. Our Q&A is below.
Runway Girl Network: According to a report from The Mobile Network, in which you are quoted, ZTE is close to launching a 5G ATG network to support inflight connectivity. Do you expect the network to launch this year?
Liu: Yes, 5G ATG network will to be launched in 2021. Chinese telecom operators had already made a detailed schedule in 2020.
Gogo Business Aviation is making strong progress towards meeting its goal of bringing 5G air-to-ground (ATG) inflight connectivity to market in 2022.
The company, which is executing on a pure-play BizAv connectivity strategy in the US following Intelsat’s acquisition of Gogo Commercial Aviation, also believes it will be well-positioned to accommodate hybrid ATG-LEO satellite solutions in the future.
During an earnings conference call to report a 4% year-over-year increase in first quarter revenue and improved financials, Gogo Business Aviation CEO Oakleigh Thorne revealed in reference to 5G ATG: “We completed critical design review and flight testing for our airborne antenna.”
“We completed installation of all 5G core hardware and software in our data centers, and successfully completed our first end-to end-call on the Gogo sim,” he continued. “We successfully completed acceptance testing of our 5G base station antennas and preparation for testbed installation later th
As COVID-19 restrictions ease and passenger traffic increases at airports in key markets, including the US, Intelsat believes it is “well-positioned” to benefit from an expected economic expansion.
Even so, the satellite operator which acquired Gogo Commercial Aviation in December 2020 and with it content on thousands of Ku-band inflight connectivity-fitted tails can expect further changes at Gogo’s largest IFC customer, Delta Air Lines, as the US major has opted for a future with multiple Wi-Fi suppliers.
During the first quarter, Intelsat saw its revenue increase by 10% year-over-year to $502.8 million. Revenue for its Network Services business – which includes Gogo – was $214 million for the three-month period ended 31 March or 43% of Intelsat’s total revenue. This represented a revenue increase of 43% compared to the year-earlier quarter.
Viasat is eager to take a lead role in delivering inflight connectivity to airlines and business aircraft operators flying in and over Russia, and say.