Immfly targets budget airlines with OneWeb LEO IFC, Gogo antenna

Immfly intends to add “aero ISP” to its list of proficiencies. The Spanish digital services and wireless IFE firm has announced plans to offer Eutelsat OneWeb Ku-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-powered inflight connectivity to budget airlines, as supported by Gogo’s Plane Simple electronically steerable antenna (ESA).

The news falls hard on the heels of a public spat between Ryanair chief Michael O’ Leary and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after O’Leary expressed concerns about the cost of fitting Starlink to the ultra low-cost carrier’s fleet — as well as the fuel bill penalty associated with the phased array antennas’ aerodynamic drag.

Whether or not Immfly will be able to tempt Ryanair with the financials around its new Eutelsat OneWeb LEO-only IFC product remains to be seen. But the firm notes today that:

For years, inflight connectivity has been largely out of reach for low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers operating narrowbody fleets. Existing broadband solutions were too costly, too heavy, or too disruptive to install on aircraft designed for high utilization and fast turnarounds.

As a result, LCC and ULCC fleets have continued to operate without reliable broadband, limiting what airlines and their passengers can do onboard.”

Immfly has also shared an image of the deconstructed Plane Simple ESA, which emphasizes the compact nature of the hardware. The firm plans to launch the low-latency LEO service this year and is currently accepting requests for pilot programs, describing the solution as “broadband connectivity tailored for high-density narrowbody aircraft.”

“This initiative marks a turning point for the LCC/ULCC industry,” declares Immfly executive chairman and co-founder Jimmy M. von Korff.

“Narrowbody aircraft remain disconnected, and we’re bringing them into the digital era through Eutelsat’s OneWeb high-speed LEO connectivity services and Gogo ESA hardware — enabling ancillary revenue growth, streamlining operations, and providing passengers with connectivity on par with their ground experiences.”

It’s notable that Immfly has turned to an industry stalwart, Gogo, for the antenna hardware. Since selling its Gogo Commercial Aviation business in 2020 to Intelsat — the business now owned by Intelsat acquirer SES — Gogo has focused on serving the business aviation community. Its Galileo IFC service, which uses Hughes Network Systems’ ESA hardware and is powered by Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO service, has enjoyed strong talkability and respectable momentum in the BizAv market.

Gogo’s Plane Simple line of antennas, assumed as part of Gogo’s own acquisition of Satcom Direct, includes a Gilat-made full-duplex ESA that has performed well in testing. “We are working with Gilat on the Plane Simple ESA LEO variant,” a Gogo spokesperson previously confirmed to RGN. We have, however, sought formal confirmation from Immfly that it’s using the Gilat kit for its new Eutelsat OneWeb-supported IFC service. (SES and Panasonic Avionics are separately rolling out Gilat’s multi-orbit LEO/GEO ESA for commercial airline customers.)

The Immfly solution will also use a modular, agnostic onboard server, Equilux Aero, which presently supports wireless entertainment — streamed to passengers’ devices — plus payment processing, crew tools and onboard data capture. It has been previously billed by Immfly as “connectivity ready.”

Gogo is celebrating the new partnership, which is a unique way for the firm to edge back into supporting the commercial aviation market without assuming the burden of being an aero ISP.

“We remain committed to developing products and services that support aircraft of all sizes,” explains Colin Quarless, executive vice president of strategy and business development at Gogo.

“As the conduit connecting the Immfly hardware with the OneWeb constellation, this perfectly demonstrates that the Gogo hardware can support the connectivity needs of high-density, narrowbody aircraft, as well as the unique requirements of business aviation and milgov customers.”

The solution will face direct competition from Hughes’ OneWeb LEO-only IFC offering in commercial aviation, which uses the Maryland-based firm’s own ESA and is expected to ship this year.

Eutelsat OneWeb says on LinkedIn: “This collaboration highlights how our OneWeb LEO constellation is continuing to expand access to inflight connectivity across the aviation market, supporting a broader range of aircraft types and airline business models, and reinforcing Eutelsat’s role in delivering resilient, high-performance connectivity for global mobility customers.”

Becoming an aero ISP is no small task, and it usually requires deep pockets. RGN will update readers as we learn more about how Immfly intends to scale its operation, moving beyond the cached content realm of wireless IFE to support live connections in flight.

All images credited to Immfly