Recently in Air Transport Category

Israel's Starling Advanced Communication is targeting operators of narrowbody aircraft for its new Ku-band antenna, Mijet-Lite, which will support high-speed connectivity services.

Development has been completed and the system is ready for flight testing. A prototype of Mijet-Lite will be unveiled next month at the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) conference and exhibition in Long Beach, California, Starling VP marketing and sales Jacob Keret told Flight's premium affiliate ATI.

He says the system is a lighter weight, lower cost version of Starling's standard Mijet antenna but larger than the mini-Mijet for business jets (click on graph for specifications of each).

Mijet-Lite will provide about two thirds of Mijet's performance, while saving about 50% of the weight, he says.

Separately, Starling is working in partnership with EMS Technologies' Georgia-based Defence & Space Systems (D&SS) division to offer a new ultra-fast, ultra-lightweight (45lb/20kg) Ku-band airborne antenna system for the US commercial airline market.

"We are making a lot of progress with EMS on our partnership. [I can] make a good guess that EMS will announce something soon," says Keret.

Panasonic Avionics previously picked Starling as a non-exclusive antenna partner in its satellite-based connectivity system, eXConnect, but requested performance improvements to the firm's fuselage-mounted Mijet antenna as well as from other would-be suppliers. It is not yet clear whether Starling's antenna offerings are still being considered by Panasonic Avionics, which is expected to reveal further details of its solution in the near-term.

The in-flight entertainment (IFE) hardware giant has been working to fill the void left by Connexion by Boeing's December 2006 closure.

"It wasn't wrong what Connexion did. They just had some problems," says

Panasonic Avionics director of strategic product marketing David Bruner, adding that the eXConnect system will be "lighter, better and have less drag".

He adds: "We didn't want to have a system that was limited to basically the geography of the United States. We wanted something that could scale better and this solution at least we believe is the right solution."

Inmarsat has confirmed the successful launch and acquisition of the third Inmarsat-4 satellite.

The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 18 August.

Inmarsat launched the first two I-4 satellites in 2005. With this latest achievement, the satellite network provider's new, higher-bandwidth aeronautical service, SwiftBroadband, will be accessible worldwide - except the extreme polar regions.

"The Inmarsat-4s are the world's most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services," says Inmarsat chairman and CEO Andrew Sukawaty.

"Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services."

The satellite will now undergo a period of deployment and several weeks of comprehensive tests and manoeuvres before being positioned in geostationary orbit at 98º West.

In-flight connectivity provider OnAir is offering a SwiftBroadband-based GSM solution.

On 2 April Air France started the voice element of ongoing trials during commercial flights across Europe on an Airbus A318.

Irish budget carrier Ryanair is readying to begin a trial of the service. Other international carriers have committed to the OnAir solution.

(Photo care of Inmarsat)

Some Missourians are none too pleased with Bombardier after the Canadian airframer selected its Mirabel, Quebec plant for CSeries final assembly instead of building a new facility on Kansas City International Airport property.

It's hard not to have some sympathy for Missouri; the state seemingly moved heaven and earth to approve a $240 million tax credit programme to lure Bombardier across the border.

But let's be fair, Bombardier was clear that it was leaning toward Mirabel from the start. And the writing was pretty much on the wall that Mirabel would win the business after Montreal-area machinists voted in favour of a labour contract that gave Bombardier the flexibility to employ up to 15% of its workforce on a contractual basis.

Now that Bombardier has granted Mirabel the business, after receiving a commitment of $350 million in loans from Ottawa and $118 million from Quebec, the Missouri Political News Service is displaying a video reaction from YouTube entity "BombardierWatch" (see below).

Despite it's cutting remarks about Bombardier, the group seems most annoyed with the state of Missouri, accusing government in a blog of having taken a rather uncomfortable ankle-grapping position in its dealings with the Canadian company. Err - ouch!

The time has come to use this blog for the noble cause of self promotion. On 9-10 September, I will have the pleasure of moderating some panels at the inaugural Airline Interiors Expo - Americas event, which is making its debut in Long Beach, California.

Co-located with the annual World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) conference and exhibition, Interiors' forums will explore how and why airlines should be using the cabin environment to differentiate themselves; what drives a culture of cabin innovation; and how airlines can make new technology pay.

In addition, noted researcher and blogger, Addison Schonland - IAG will deliver the results of a hard-hitting industry and consumer survey about airline comfort. Please feel free to participate in the survey at http://survey.iag-inc.com/interview.cfm?id=105

That all sounds wonderful, you say, but aren't cabin amenities for those of us in steerage being chucked out the window, especially on domestic flights? Aren't we being nickled and dimed for even basic necessities?

Clearly we're going to see more "pay as you go" items. But this is one road warrior who welcomes the chance to browse the Internet, use e-mail or have a quick phone chat in-flight, even if it means paying a fee.

In any case, the future windfall of ancillary revenue from these endeavours could be substantial to airlines. Recent research from MultiMedia Intelligence suggests that the market for in-flight broadband services is poised to grow to $936 million in passenger revenue in 2012, up from initial revenue of $6.6 million this year. Similarly, the market for in-flight live direct broadcast video is projected to grow from $87 million in 2007 to $913 million in 2012.

Predictions that in-flight mobile phone usage would at best prove a nuisance and at worst provoke an onslaught of air rage episodes haven't materialized.

According to Airbus/SITA partnership OnAir, there are three main reasons why this is so - the OnAir system currently allows up to six simultaneous calls, which is not a high proportion of passengers in any commercial plane; the average length of calls is no more than two minutes; and an aircraft cabin is a noisy place, so the sound of people talking is drowned by other noises.

OnAir has been trialling its service on Air France and TAP Portugal, and is readying to go live on Ryanair.

"Despite the challenging current and foreseeable economic environment in the air transport industry, more and more airlines are trialling, installing or planning to install in-flight passenger communications services in the near future, to allow passengers to use text messages and email, and to make and receive voice calls," says the company.

"The ancillary revenue and service differentiation potential is evidently winning the board-room over."

OnAir CEO Benoit Debains is convinced that once people get a taste of in-flight mobile phone connectivity, they'll want it and come to expect it. He notes that there are "applications that people haven't started to think about" like the ability to access information about each flight, using cell phones as a tool for rebooking and mobile check-in.

Voice calls during flight are presumed to be "something annoying" but the mobile phone "is much more than voice; it can communicate with messaging, make payments, plenty of things and that's why I think there will be a lot of adoption", says Debains.

OnAir's rival, Arinc/Telenor joint venture AeroMobile, has also discovered that in-flight voice call chatter is more than tolerable.

An Emirates Boeing 777 equipped with the AeroMobile system flew into London Heathrow on 7 August with passengers able to make and receive calls, as well as exchange text messages.

"All the evidence so far is that concerns about potential impact on fellow passengers are groundless. The service has been used considerately and with the minimum of fuss," says AeroMobile chief executive Bjorn-Taale Sandberg.

"Text messaging is proving particularly popular, especially because it's an effective way to communicate during a long-haul flight when you are crossing different time zones."

Emirates VP for passenger communications Patrick Brannelly adds: "Passengers have reacted matter-of-factly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"We have had no complaints or incidents since the service was introduced in March.  On airliners the cabin noise level is such that you can't hear people making phone calls, and the call quality has been so good there's been no need to shout."

(Photo of Emirates 777 copyright of AirTeamImages)

As a frequent flyer from our nation's capital, I'm happy to report that Boingo Wireless is adding Dulles International and Washington National to its expanding global network of airport hotspots accessible to travellers.

The Boingo Wireless contracts mean Boingo's WiFi network will now be available to the more than 24 million passengers who travel through Dulles annually, and the more than 18 million annual passengers who fly through Washington National. A statement will be released today.

As Boingo and other mobile Internet aggregators expand on the ground, one wonders what type of competition they will face from airborne connectivity providers.

Will travellers forgo their airport hotspot hook-up in order to connect on the aircraft via Aircell, LiveTV, Row 44 or Panasonic? Or will Boingo and others be able to convince folks to do their e-mailing/Internet searches pre-flight? 

Flight duration will surely be a factor. A two hour flight might not warrant an airborne connection but passengers on a long-haul flight may get the itchy finger (that is, at least, what American Airlines is counting on as it readies to launch Aircell's Gogo service on transcontinental 767 flights).

There is, of course, the possibility that a marketing arrangement can be reached by Boingo with air-to-ground and satellite-based connectivity players. Boingo serves more than 500 airports including 85 of the top 100 airports worldwide. That's a powerful presence. Already laying some groundwork in this regard is iPass, which recently announced it will offer WiFi roaming with Aircell's Gogo.

(Finger pic at Wikipedia here) 

Not so very long ago, a then nubile Runway Girl blog noted that the adoption by US carriers of in-seat live satellite television - together with connectivity services - was a growing trend. Despite serious industry challenges of late, some airlines are keen to keep this trend alive. And LiveTV appears well-placed to capture a nice chunk of that combination business. After chatting to the JetBlue Airways subsidiary, it sounds like they're poised to announce another US major as a customer.

This follows last year's rather substantial agreement by Continental Airlines to install LiveTV across a large portion of its Boeing narrowbody fleet. While airlines "are distracted", by current operating conditions, many are eager to get a jump on the competition in terms of in-flight entertainment and connectivity, says LiveTV VP of sales and marketing Mike Moeller.

JetBlue was once content for LiveTV to simply supply its own fleet and those of other US low-cost carriers (Frontier, WestJet) with live television and the promise of basic connectivity. Now the message from above is "go forth and prosper young man", says Moeller.

To do that, LiveTV needs the right partners in place. The company recently awarded a $20.1 million multi-year contract to KVH Industries to design, develop and build DirecTV satellite antennas for narrow-bodied commercial aircraft. Moeller says LiveTV hasn't replaced long-time antenna supplier EMS, but that it needs "multiple vendors to be able to meet the level we're going at".

A regular reader of this blog and in-flight connectivity enthusiast recently took the time to listen to KVH's conference call. He reports back that KVH is building and delivering to a very detailed specification, and that the requirement for the FAA and the STC certification is actually LiveTV's requirement.

Obviously there is a lot more to discuss on this subject, and other issues now facing IFE and in-flight connectivity players. Heck, Delta Air Lines - which boasts a transcontinental fleet of Panasonic IFE-equipped aircraft - has just selected Aircell's Internet service for its entire domestic fleet of 330 mainline aircraft. That's the same Delta that posted a $1 billion loss in the second quarter.

I'm currently enjoying some R&R on the banks of Torch Lake, Michigan (thus the reason why things have been a little quiet here lately). But bear with me. We're heading into the fun season. WAEA's annual conference and exhibition and the co-located Aircraft Interiors Expo are just around the corner.