AirFi LEO, the Iridium Certus 100-powered connectivity solution from AirFi, has broken cover on an Atlantic Airways Airbus A320, with a poster on Reddit sharing a photo of the miniature window-mounted antennas.
“Saw this on an Atlantic Airways A320 from Vagar”, Faroe Islands, says the Reddit poster. “It was between the panes and not accessible from either side, anyone know what it is?”
Their curiosity is understandable. AirFi LEO, which features two Skytrac antennas – one on either side of the aircraft, mounted inside a window – is a different configuration than the large fuselage-mounted antennas that passengers are accustomed to seeing.
An IP-based solution, AirFi LEO brings Iridium Certus 100-supported real-time credit card authentication to airlines, including low-cost carriers, and in turn helps them to eradicate inflight fraud. It can also be configured to support free messaging for passengers.
RGN explored the AirFi LEO solution on the show floor of this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. Image: Mary Kirby
AirFi is already the leading provider of portable and aircraft-powered wireless IFE in industry; its server units stream content to passengers’ own devices, and support airlines’ onboard retail programmes.
The company introduced AirFi LEO for its fraud-busting capabilities, connecting the unit to Iridium’s L-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network for a real-time connection.
For existing customers of AirFi’s wireless IFE, an update to AirFi LEO is rather simple.
“The LEO simply comes on top. Every client that has our semi-installed operation (red: where the box is powered in a cradle but still operates as a PED). The LEO requires to take away one side panel for the placement of the antenna, and the receiver is mounted into the existing gear,” AirFi CEO Job Heimerikx tells Runway Girl Network.
“Engineering paperwork is already existing; for existing customers this is no more then a 4hr exercise.”
Airlines have historically shied away from discussing the true scope of the onboard fraud problem. But it’s understood to range from 0.2% to over 5% of inflight sales.
AirFi recently gave an inflight demonstration of how the AirFi LEO system works, sharing a video of it on LinkedIn.
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- AirFi to fit Atlantic Airways with LEO boxes for messaging, payments
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Featured image credited to AirFi
