Recently, I had the pleasure of sampling Panasonic Avionics’ satellite in-flight connectivity (IFC) solution. On my travels back from Singapore to London via Frankfurt, ably assisted by Deutsche Lufthansa, I was able to test its FlyNet mobile and Internet services. Attempting to beat the proverbial test starting gun, which Linford Christie failed to do so…
Another meeting in Europe, another flight, and another opportunity to test in-flight connectivity (IFC) for ourselves. This time, the flight was with Norwegian Air Shuttle, a carrier that is fast gaining a reputation for its customer experience, and the destination was Portugal. The IFC for Norwegian is provided by Global Eagle Entertainment (Row 44) and…
Come the turn of the year, passengers flying on one of over 4,000 connected commercial aircraft will have access to in-flight connectivity (IFC). However, unless you’ve flown a domestic flight in the United States, chances are you’ve not yet experienced the wonders of the web at 35,000 feet. Thanks mainly to the continued dominance of…
Valour Consultancy issued the following release on BusinessWire this morning. LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Despite the entrance and exit of AT&T into in-flight connectivity (IFC) in the space of just seven months, there is plenty of optimism in the market. The number of aircraft being equipped with cellular and/or Wi-Fi technology continues to grow – and rapidly. According…
About a month ago, I had the opportunity to use in-flight connectivity (IFC) on board an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Boston. The Irish flag carrier now has the service available on all its A330s on transatlantic routes. At €20 (just over $25) for 24 hours’ access, it is by no means the cheapest…
At some stage in our lives, most of us will have been told that flying is statistically the safest form of transportation and up until recently, we’d have had little reason to doubt this assertion. However, the recent spate of crashes involving Air Algérie, TransAsia Airways and of course, Malaysia Airlines, has got people asking…
As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues, the debate as to whether its now time to stream real-time black box data has intensified. While there are no technical barriers to relay such information to the ground via satellite, the question remains whether airlines, already struggling to keep costs down, want to put up…
Over the weekend, I took the opportunity to go and see the latest Liam Neeson blockbuster, Non-Stop. For those not in the know, the plot revolves around Bill Marks (Neeson), an alcoholic ex-cop who enrolled in the Federal Air Marshall Service, despite his fear of aeroplane take-offs. Deployed on a “non-stop” transatlantic flight from New…
A new study from Valour Consultancy forecasts 40% of maritime satellite service revenues will be allocated to L-band by 2018, despite a number of Ka-band solutions entering service this year. Many in the industry expect the launch of another VSAT technology to sound the death knell for the use of L-band at sea. Indeed, the…
Over the past decade or so, there has been huge media focus on receding ice caps with anthropogenic global warming cited as the undeniable cause. If nothing was done, millions of polar bears and penguins would find themselves homeless and the oceans would rise to levels unseen since Moses was given the unenviable task of…
The debate is on as to whether the surge of new Ka-band capacity will detrimentally affect Ku-band services, especially in the aeronautical and maritime sectors where satellite connectivity is of increasing importance. Craig Foster, Senior Consultant at Valour Consultancy, takes on the question, and weighs up the pros and cons of both systems. Approximately eighteen…
The shipping industry has been treading water since the great recession in 2009. A price war among operators of container lines was one of the first signs of the industry downturn and this was shortly followed by a slump in rates to charter vessels for grain, iron, and coal. Finally, there continues to exist a…
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