| The world's first daily source of news and comment on the world of inflight entertainment, passenger communications and cabin technology. |
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May 15, 2008 – CONFIRMING the view that the top end of corporate/VIP aviation is sailing through the world’s economic turbulence, a new Swiss company is setting up shop to bring much needed completions capacity to the market.
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May 15, 2008 – AIRCELL continues to pump up the volume ahead of its planned broadband service launch later this year, announcing a distribution agreement with leading WiFi service provider iPass.
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May 14, 2008 – AIRCELL has named another of the vendors that have helped to bring its new broadband network to within sight of commercial launch.
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May 13, 2008 - ASTRONICS has secured a complete lock on in-seat power for the Boeing 787 following an agreement with Panasonic. |
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May 13, 2008 – US VIP completions specialist BaySys Technologies has ordered one example of CTT’s Cair cabin air humidification system for installation in an Airbus A340 later this year.
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May 13, 2008 – AIR New Zealand has chosen Panasonic’s eX2 widebody IFE system for its fleet of five Boeing 767s.
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May 12, 2008 – US air-to-ground communications equipment specialist International Communications Group (ICG) has integrated its NxtLink range of Iridium satcoms with the Tempus telemedicine system from UK-based RDT.
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May 11, 2008 – ANOTHER company has signalled its readiness to transform the interiors of the glut of ex-airline Bombardier CRJ regional jets now entering the VIP conversion market.
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May 10, 2008 - THE new Brazilian domestic airline being set up by David Neeleman, founder and former president of LiveTV parent company JetBlue (Inflight Online, March 29), is to be called Azul (Portuguese for “blue”).
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May 9, 2008 – BAE Systems Regional Aircraft will be at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva on May 20-22 to promote one of the lesser known corporate/VIP conversions of a former airliner - the Avro Business Jet (ABJ).
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May 8, 2008 – WHILE LED-based intelligent systems tend to grab most of the cabin lighting headlines, there’s still a place for good old halogen lamps – and they’re getting greener and cheaper. |
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May 7, 2008 - PANASONIC has taken another step in its increasingly deliberate progress towards launch of a Ku-band satellite-based broadband service for the airlines.
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May 6, 2008 – SILVERJET has avoided the fate of its now defunct competitors MAXjet and Eos and is talking a good game about its future prospects.
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May 5, 2008 – LUFTHANSA plans to launch an all-business-class service from Frankfurt to the city of Pune in western India at the beginning of July.
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May 4, 2008 – EMIRATES has released first details of its A380 cabins. In an echo of "Upstairs Downstairs," the British 1970s TV drama about life in an Edwardian mansion, the ordinary folk will travel on an all-economy main deck, with the business and first-class gentry heading upstairs to an all-premium upper deck.
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May 3, 2008 – SOMETIMES it’s not a good idea to be the first into a new business. Or rather it’s not a good idea to say you’re the first.
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May 2, 2008 – AIR NEW ZEALAND has selected Panasonic to supply its eFX narrowbody AVOD system to replace the existing broadcast IFE and in-seat power aboard its fleet of 13 Airbus A320-200s.
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May 2, 2008 – THE first commercial retrofit of the latest version of Rockwell Collins’ eXchange broadband system for business aviation has been completed on a Cessna Citation X, the largest aircraft in the Wichita manufacturer’s range.
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May 2, 2008 – IN-SEAT power provider Astronics Corporation paints a mixed picture of the state of the market in its quarterly report for the three months ended March 31. While revenues fell marginally compared with the same period last year, bookings were up fully 13 per cent.
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May 1, 2008 – ROCKWELL Collins is to supply Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcoms as part of a package of communications systems for the Airbus A350. The package is one of three newly awarded to the US company – the others cover the avionics backbone network and flight-deck landing aids.
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May 1, 2008 – RUSSIAN carrier Aeroflot has selected Panasonic’s eX2 audio/video-on-demand IFE system for installation in ten Airbus A330s. Deliveries are due to start this year.
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April 30, 2008 – THE handheld IFE community continues to enjoy a white-knuckle ride aboard the surviving premium-only carriers, with Britain’s Silverjet announcing a memorandum of understanding for a further cash injection and L’Avion of France reporting an encouraging 78 per cent load factor for March while saying “non” to enquiries about its finances.
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April 30, 2008 – THE Airbus Corporate Jet Centre (ACJC) in Toulouse has completed its first VIP interior since opening its doors last year. The privately owned Airbus A320 features a lounge, business-class seating and an area for support staff.
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April 30, 2008 - THE B/E Aerospace juggernaut thunders on, reporting record first-quarter revenues of $472 million and showing no signs of disquiet at the potential effects of soaring oil prices.
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April 29, 2008 – AIRBORNE communication specialist Wingspeed Corporation of Massachusetts has introduced a new inflight credit-card authorisation system for airlines.
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April 29, 2008 – HANDHELD IFE specialist The IMS Company is doubling its workspace, moving this week to a new 18,000 square foot facility.
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April 28, 2008 – ATLANTA-based lightweight IFE specialist Flight Display Systems has claimed a breakthrough in the delivery of high-definition (HD) video to screens in aircraft. |
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April 27, 2008 – THERE was mixed news about Rockwell Collins’ inflight entertainment activities in its financial report for the first quarter of this calendar year.
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April 27, 2008 – FORMERLY market-leading premium-only carrier Eos has gone bust, making IMS the latest handheld IFE suppler to burn its fingers on this sector of the air transport industry.
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April 26, 2008 – PASSENGER communications provider Aircell has unveiled a two-pronged approach to the business-aviation broadband market.
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April 26, 2008 – HANDHELD IFE supplier digEcor has announced that its digEplayer XT second-generation player has been selected as the primary entertainment offering for premium passengers on the three Boeing 747-400s operated by existing customer Garuda Indonesia.
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April 24, 2008 – THERE’S A new twist to the emerging mobile TV phenomenon, and it’s one that’s sure to have the handheld IFE providers figuring all the potential angles.
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April 24, 2008 - PANASONIC Avionics has been contracted to supply the cabin services system (CSS) for the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. |
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April 23, 2008 – EARLIER this year Emirates said that first class in its Airbus A380s would have the air transport industry’s first flying showers. Now Seattle-headquartered fitness equipment supplier Technogym plans to give them a reason for being there by offering the world’s first gyms for the airliner cabin. |
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April 22, 2008 – THERE WILL be some red faces in the world of telecoms 12 months from now. They will belong either to the onboard cellphone community, which is finally seeing its wares put to the commercial test, or to the various individuals and organisations that have been dead set against the idea from the start.
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April 21, 2008 – INFLIGHT CANADA, the inventive Montreal-based IFE engineering specialist famed for its iCACHE underfloor installation scheme, has developed a system to allow passengers to pay as they go for laptop power and other in-seat consumption.
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April 20, 2008 – THOUGH mobile television is experiencing the customary swings and roundabouts of every new consumer technology, the signs are that it’s here to stay in the mass marketplace.
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April 19, 2008 - RECARO is in the news again, with SWISS announcing that it has completed an 18-month programme to install the German manufacturer’s seats in all 52 aircraft of its European fleet.
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April 18, 2008 – GERMAN seat manufacturer Recaro has introduced a new product along with upgrades to a couple of its existing ones.
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April 17, 2008 – MONTREAL-based Air Data Inc (ADI) has received Transport Canada certification for a biological air-cleaning system for business jets.
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April 16, 2008 – HANDHELD IFE provider IMS has rewarded itself for its recent surge to the forefront of the market with a change of name and logo. The Anaheim, California-based company, which supplies four US majors and another dozen or more carriers around the world, has also announced a new corporate structure and two senior staff appointments.
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