Interiors & Connectivity

LOT Polish Airlines, which recently completed a cabin upgrade in its Boeing 737-400s, placed the first of three newly modernized aircraft into service on its Warsaw-London Heathrow route June 27.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a supplemental type certificate (STC) to Hamburg-based MRO provider Lufthansa Technik to install Inmarsat’s GX Aviation Ka-band antenna on Lufthansa’s Airbus A320 family aircraft.

Melbourne Airport (MEL) has completed a three-month trial of self-boarding gates on selected international flights at Terminal 2.

Passenger Experience-June 23, 2016

Brussels Airlines is introducing a third long-haul class, branded as Economy Plus, on its Airbus A330s from July 1.

Ethiopian Airlines will take delivery of the first of 14 Airbus A350 XWBs on June 28, making it Africa’s first operator of the type.

Passenger Experience-June 17, 2017

IT & Distribution-June 15, 2016

Japan Airlines (JAL) has introduced its new JAL Sky Suite on Boeing 777-200ER international service.

TAP Portugal launched Lisbon-Boston Logan services on June 11, followed by a new daily service to New York JFK from July 1.

Passenger Experience-June 8, 2016

Scandinavian carrier SAS has revealed it is considering extending its Wi-Fi services to other aircraft, having already equipped its long-haul fleet with the service.

United Airlines’ new premium business product—United Polaris—was unveiled today. The product rebranding includes all aircraft interiors, digital media, inflight service and airport lounges. It will be offered Dec. 1.

Cathay Pacific Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350 XWB, becoming the sixth airline to place the new widebody in its fleet. The aircraft was delivered to the Hong Kong-based airline May 28 and will begin service June 1.

Japanese full-service carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) will introduce two new services to help avoid language barriers and ensure rapid emergency medical attention on flights.

Irish budget carrier Ryanair is likely to opt for “walled garden” onboard connectivity in the mid-term, rather than full-blown Wi-Fi.

Passenger Experience-May 25, 2016

Travel technology provider SITA is exploring the use of blockchain technology as a platform for generating secure single travel “tokens” that could potentially streamline a passenger’s progress through all airport processes involving the scanning of personal documentation.

A clear message from the 2016 SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey is that passengers prefer technology-delivered over people-delivered service.

The future of passenger engagement is all about making technology invisible. “It’s about removing the friction from technology interactions, keeping it simple. As soon as technology gets in the way, it’s failed,” Google partner development manager Max Coppin told delegates at the Future Travel Experience (FTE) Europe conference in Amsterdam.

Gogo’s faster 2Ku Wi-Fi offering is now in the air, and the fleet of aircraft equipped with the technology is expected to grow in coming months.

IT & Distribution-May 11, 2016

The race for better and more thoroughly connected aircraft is picking up speed.

Chinese aerospace firm AVIC International Holding Corp. (AVIC) has completed the acquisition of cabin interiors specialist AIM Altitude from investment firm TowerBrook Capital Partners.

International Airlines Group (IAG) has selected Gogo’s 2Ku broadband connectivity for four Aer Lingus Boeing 757s, 118 British Airways (BA) aircraft and up to 15 Iberia long-haul aircraft.