South America’s preeminent inflight connectivity provider, SES, continues to vacuum up key business in the region, with longtime customer LATAM agreeing to fit more than 60 Airbus and Embraer twinjets with the firm’s multi-orbit, electronically steerable antenna (ESA)-based IFC solution.
“More than 60 Airbus (A320neo and A321XLR) and Embraer aircraft (E195-E2) will be equipped with SES services in the coming years,” SES says, whilst sharing an image of a fitted E2.
The E2s will officially start joining the fleet in the fourth quarter, plying domestic services for the carrier’s LATAM Airlines Brazil unit, while LATAM’s first new A321XLRs are slated to begin arriving in 2027.
Utilizing Gilat Satellite Networks’ Stellar Blu Sidewinder ESA, the multi-orbit IFC service is powered by SES’s geostationary satellites and Eutelsat OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite service, for which SES is a distribution partner in aero.
SES already supports IFC on more than 250 aircraft in LATAM’s fleet with its 2Ku solution; this includes more than 200 A320 Family aircraft. Viasat, meanwhile, recently won LATAM’s widebody business.
“At LATAM, we are committed to making every journey more connected. By bringing next-generation multi-orbit connectivity to more of our fleet, we will offer our passengers a faster, more reliable onboard internet experience, helping them stay connected wherever they fly while continuing to raise the standard of travel across Latin America,” says Paulo Miranda, who serves as vice president of customers at LATAM Airlines Group.
SES also counts Abra Group, the Latin American holding company for Avianca, GOL and Wamos Air, as a customer for its multi-orbit LEO/GEO offering, recently inking an agreement covering installs on more than 100 aircraft. GOL is also an existing 2Ku customer.
Additionally, the satellite operator and aero ISP last month announced it had secured Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Viva as a customer for the ESA-based offering, with a deal to fit 100 A320 Family aircraft.
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All images credited to LATAM
