HAMBURG — Air India has selected Hughes Network Systems’ multi-orbit primed, high-capacity Ka-band satellite-based inflight connectivity service to power onboard Wi-Fi for a mixture of widebodies in its fleet.
Under arrangements announced today at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, the airline will leverage Airbus’s linefit, supplier-furnished HBCplus program to bring the Hughes In-Flight-branded IFC service to new A350-1000 aircraft. Hughes is a managed service provider on the HBCplus program.
Air India will also offer Hughes In-Flight on existing Boeing Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
RAVE Aerospace’s Ka-band terminal, which is based on ThinKom Solutions’ popular Ka-band 2517 VICTS hardware — and a key piece of kit on the Ka-band side of Airbus HBCplus — will be installed on the A350-1000s, 787-8s and 777-300ERs (whether via linefit at Airbus in the first instance, or retrofit in the latter.)
Financial terms of the deals have not been disclosed.
“The current selection applies to an initial tranche of existing and new widebody aircraft in the Air India fleet,” says Hughes, which has a long and lasting relationship with India. Indeed, Hughes was among the first companies to invest in India in the software and communications sectors and has since established several successful companies.
The low-profile RAVE Aerospace terminal is based on ThinKom’s Ka2517. Image: Mary Kirby
Air India has thus far taken a multi-source approach to IFC, as it also offers Panasonic Avionics’ Ku-band geostationary (GEO) satellite-supported system on select aircraft, as part of Panasonic’s partnership with Tata Group company Nelco in India.
Hughes In-Flight, meanwhile, is a high-throughput Ka-band GEO-now focused product that offers a pathway to multi-orbit inflight connectivity for airlines. That’s because the Ka2517 VICTS antenna can talk to Telesat’s forthcoming Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) service, and potentially other Ka-band LEO services just on the horizon.
Air India’s specific deployment of the solution uses the Hughes JUPITER Ka-band satellite fabric and “preserves a consistent onboard experience and common operational toolset across both Airbus and Boeing aircraft,” Hughes says.
In the past, Air India has faced some criticism from passengers for not offering a fully connected fleet.
Air India’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Dr Satya Ramaswamy in a statement acknowledges that “always-on broadband Internet connectivity is a fundamental expectation of today’s digitally savvy consumers.”
He adds:
Our strategic vision is to provide connectivity with home-broadband like bandwidth and latency on Air India’s international and domestic flights so that connecting from our flights feels the same as connecting from home.”
In this journey, we are pleased to partner with Hughes as their global launch customer to offer an in-flight connectivity service that takes into account the existing regulatory considerations and satellite coverage capabilities along the global flight paths of our wide body aircraft, with a roadmap to seamlessly upgrade to home-broadband levels within the next two years.
Though it is a relative newcomer to the IFC space, Hughes has won multiple customers for its cadre of solutions which cover the gamut of LEO-, GEO- and multi-orbit, multi-network options. Delta Air Lines, for instance, has rolled out Hughes’ GEO offering on its regional jets, and is poised to fit its Boeing 717s, plus select A321neos and A350-1000s with the Hughes Fusion multi-beam, multi-band product, which combines Ka-band GEO with Eutelsat OneWeb’s Ku-band LEO service.
“At Hughes, we are committed to advancing inflight connectivity that empowers airlines like Air India, a leader in digital capabilities in the airline industry, to deliver seamless digital experiences for their passengers,” said Ramesh Ramaswamy, executive vice president at Hughes Network Systems. “Our innovative platform not only enhances passenger experience but also drives operational excellence, positioning Air India to deliver an exceptional customer experience.”
Reza Rasoulian, SVP and GM of the Aviation Business Unit at Hughes, adds: “Hughes is honored to partner with Air India as the airline modernizes connectivity across its widebody fleet,” said
“With Hughes In-Flight Connectivity, Air India can deliver a consistent, connected onboard digital experience across both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. This common solution allows Air India to harmonize their passenger experience, operational tools, deploy digital services faster across their fleet, and has a roadmap pole-to-pole, low-latency LEO connectivity with minimal aircraft modifications.”
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