An Emirates’ Boeing 777X aircraft.
Emirates has chosen Thales for the IFE (but has not yet decided who will supply the inflight connectivity) on its fleet of new Boeing 777Xs.
Deliveries of the 150 [firm order] aircraft are due to start in 2020, and the chosen connectivity provider must be able to offer a “gold standard” service.
Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Vice-President of Customer Experience, In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity, stated the “gold standard” requirement at a press event with Thales as it announced it had been selected to provide its AVANT IFE on the new aircraft.
But Dominique Giannoni, CEO, Thales InFlyt Experience, was careful to say it had won the “IFE”, and not “IFEC” contract, leaving a question mark over who would be the connectivity provider.
“We haven’t made a decision yet on the connectivity provider, although we hope to do so shortly,” Brannelly said. “But I can say that it will have to provide a gold standard of service for our passengers and crew.”
In a follow-up interview “Get Connected’s” Steve Nichols pushed him on what he meant by gold standard, and did he mean a choice between Panasonic’s Ku-band Global Communication Services (GCS) or Inmarsat’s new Ka-band Global Xpress (GX) system?
“Not necessarily,” he said. “We are looking for a provider that can offer us what we want in 2020, 2030 and even 2040, so we are not ruling anyone out,” Brannelly said.
Emirates
Dominique Giannoni, CEO, Thales InFlyt Experience (left) and Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Vice-President of Customer Experience, In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity.
“What Emirates needs is fast, reliable, global satellite connectivity. It isn’t just about the headline speeds, but the service’s reliability and ability to support a lot of users at once.”
He said that with the first ViaSat-3 satellite scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2019, with other satellites to follow, it wasn’t necessarily a two-horse race. There may be Gogo and Global Eagle Entertainment to consider with their Ku-band programmes, and Thales’s own future Ka-band offering after its recent announcement with SES, although this is believed to cover only the Americas.
“We have inflight connectivity on 90% of our fleet and have vast experience with Panasonic’s Ku-band services, plus Inmarsat SwiftBroadband,” he said.
“Our service via SITAONAIR and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, which offers passengers access to up to 500 Mb of data for just $1, has proved very popular. What we do know is that any new aircraft joining our fleet must have inflight connectivity – it has gone from being a ‘nice to have’ service to essential.
“Emirates has been looking at connectivity options on the 777X for more than a year and is close to announcing a deal. But whatever we choose must be capable of providing a truly global service, be fast enough to provide live TV, and provide a fantastic passenger experience,” Brannelly concluded.
Thales also announced it plans to open its new “Discovery Dubai” research and development centre in two years.
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