Air Arabia debuts Panasonic Avionics multi-orbit IFC

Already a customer of Panasonic Avionics’ eXW wireless inflight entertainment system, UAE-based Air Arabia is now flying with the IFEC giant’s Ku-band multi-orbit onboard connectivity solution, Runway Girl Network can reveal.

The all-Airbus A320 Family operator is among a cluster of carriers rolling out the high-speed solution, says Panasonic Avionics vice president of product & portfolio management Andrew Masson.

Using Gilat Stellar Blu’s ‘Sidewinder‘ electronically steerable antenna (ESA), Panasonic powers the inflight connectivity offering for Air Arabia with its own geostationary (GEO) satellite network (as supported by capacity agreements with multiple satellite operators around the world) and Eutelsat OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) service.

The Irvine, California-based company sees a “not insignificant” opportunity for multi-orbit LEO/GEO IFC in the market, Masson said — smaller than 5,000 tails, but “enough to close a business case.”

“There’s a niche,” he adds, “enabling you to swap between GEO and LEO.”

SpaceX’s LEO satellite-powered Starlink service has obviously been a disruptor in aviation. And several major airlines are currently in the process of rolling out Starlink, including but not limited to Air France, SAS and United Airlines. But some countries have not authorized Starlink to land services, and as such, some air routes may not be able to avail of true gate-to-gate connectivity. That’s among the reasons why multi-orbit IFC makes sense for certain operators.

Masson explained: “One of the issues you do have with LEO-only networks is you have to be prepared to fly blind. That’s the tradeoff you have to make as an airline. The Starlink brand is worth a ton. People recognize it and it’s cool, and it works pretty well, but you also have to recognize that you’re going to fly some of your routes without connectivity, and your passengers aren’t going to understand that. Because you have to turn it off when you’re flying over such and such a place. And that can be awkward.

“And that’s what multi-orbit kind of does. It fills a gap in the market for those who can’t afford to be disconnected when they fly in a certain area. And, you know, there’s some countries where their home base is in an area where connectivity is pretty limited. So, there is a niche for it, and that’s kind of why we have multi-orbit (and a LEO-only augment to GEO). It’s not a make or break for Panasonic. It’s a nice product in our portfolio.”

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Featured image credited to Air Arabia