Marina Bay Sands Convention Center and hotel in Singapore. Image Wikipedia.
The Apex Expo is being held at Marina Bay Sands Convention Center in Singapore from 24-27 October 2016 after many years in the US.
The event kinks off with an education event on the Monday, covering airline strategy, connectivity, content development, and much more.
The main exhibition then takes over on the Tuesday. But what can we expect in terms of inflight connectivity news?
It should come as no surprise that Inmarsat is likely to use the event to announce the commercial service introduction (CSI) of its Ka-band GX Aviation service.
This is the last big show before the end of the year so it would make sense. GX is already being adopted by Qatar (on the A350), Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, Zetta Jet and Air Astana, and many more announcements are expected.
Inmarsat says its stand will feature GX and also look at how its services can be used for so much more that just passenger entertainment.
Panasonic Avionics is likely to update journalists on how its Ku-band GCS services are progressing. It has a press conference booked for 10am on the Tuesday so “Get Connected” expects some announcements.
The launch of the first two Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellites (HTS) has given Panasonic’s services a shot in the arm. Intelsat says EpicNG is delivering a 165% to 330% increase in spectral efficiency with ground platforms and modem technologies.
Gogo has been busy sweeping up airline contracts with its 2Ku system, including GOL, Air France-KLM, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Delta, Aer Lingus and Iberia.
“Get Connected’s Steve Nichols tested 2Ku back in April and was impressed.
It will be interesting to see what Gogo announces in Singapore.
Global Eagle Entertainment announced in August that it had signed a contract with Avianca Brasil. Back in April it also announced it had launched its inflight connectivity and entertainment service on flydubai’s Boeing 737 aircraft using its Airconnect Ku-band system.
Thales recently announced an agreement with satellite operator SES to offer airlines new FlytLIVE inflight connectivity over the Americas. FlytLIVE by Thales will start operating mid 2017 using in-orbit satellites.
As an Inmarsat GX provider as well, Thales will have a range of solutions on offer.
At AIX Hamburg Rockwell Collins announced Airbus had selected it as a lead supplier of High-Bandwidth Connectivity (HBC) for the Airbus A320 single-aisle family of aircraft, and long-range A330 and A380 aircraft. And as a GX provider on Air Astana we might expect some further announcements from them in Singapore.
“Get Connected’s” Steve Nichols has a full diary of appointments at the Apex Expo in Singapore to bring you the latest inflight connectivity news from these, plus many more, suppliers.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on our Twitter account @getconnaero for the latest news from the Apex Expo.
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The post Preview: Apex Expo moves to Singapore on 24-27 October appeared first on Get Connected.