International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced that it will make use of Gogo’s 2Ku technology to provide in-flight connectivity on long-haul British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia services.
In total, 118 British Airways, four Aer Lingus and up to 15 Iberia aircraft will be fitted with 2Ku. The group says that by early 2019, 90% of its airlines’ long-haul aircraft will be fitted with a high-quality connectivity service. This includes the Aer Lingus and Iberia A330 aircraft already fitted with Panasonic’s connectivity solution.
Willie Walsh, IAG’s Chief Executive, said: “This state of the art technology will provide greater bandwidth, faster speed and broader coverage to our airlines’ customers. Global connectivity is something they demand and we are providing high-quality connections with innovative technology solutions to improve the travel experience.”
The first aircraft to be equipped with Gogo’s 2Ku will be a British Airways B747-400 in early 2017. Iberia and Aer Lingus will then see their first A330-300 and B757 aircraft fitted with the connectivity solution later in 2017.
Commenting on the deal, Michael Small, Gogo’s President and CEO, said: “(O)ne of the many benefits of our 2Ku technology is that it’s built on an open architecture and can leverage numerous Ku satellites around the world today and new advancements in the Ku-band coming online in the future. This means the technology will get even better over time and will provide passengers with a superior connectivity technology now and in the future.”
Hinting at the wider benefits of adopting a high-speed connectivity solution, IAG states in a release: “In addition to providing faster access to web-based services, passengers will enjoy more entertainment options throughout their entire journey. In the future, inflight Wi-Fi will also transform the duty free experience allowing travellers to order from their phones and tablets and arrange for items purchased on board to be delivered to their homes.”
