Key to the digitalisation of aviation is inflight connectivity, and 2024 looks to be a pivot point as connectivity spreads to more airlines, more aircraft and more operational uses, even while it increases in importance for the passenger experience. We sat down with experts from across the industry for their predictions of how connectivity will continue to drive innovations.
Don Buchman, general manager and vice president for commercial aviation at Viasat, tells us that “a major trend in the in-flight connectivity business is the acceleration of global adoption: regions that do not have high penetration of in-flight connectivity are reacting to passenger demand. In a recent survey, 81 percent of passengers surveyed — more than 11,000 people — worldwide said WiFi was important to their onboard experience, which continues to rise each year.”
Within this trend is a continuing change in the way the industry sees — and financially provides for — inflight connectivity. While passenger-focused connectivity remains crucial, the increasingly digitalised aircraft and the operational benefits of connectivity are a growing part of the cost-benefit puzzle for airlines investing in getting their airplanes online.
“Airlines are finding new ways to leverage connectivity on-board to generate more data,” Hughes Network Systems vice president Reza Rasoulian tells us. “For example, if an airline has real-time weather data available coming into the aircraft, or from aircraft adjacent to or ahead of it, they can optimise the flight path based on that. This provides airlines with the intelligence to steer towards a more fuel-efficient route, but it also loops back once again to enhancing customer experience by minimising turbulence.”
New connectivity methods, including the new types of satellites and the hybrid offerings they enable, are changing the supply side of the curve.
“We have witnessed a surge in the demand for connectivity,” AERQ’s director of marketing, communications and partnerships Verena Bintaro tells us. “This is a big trend in the inflight entertainment and connectivity space right now, driven by the introduction of low earth orbit satellites, which have lowered transmission costs per megabyte. Passengers now expect seamless connectivity, and airlines are eager to upgrade their existing solutions.”
This is not unique to aviation, Hughes’ Reza Rasoulian tells us. “Hughes operates in many verticals around the world. In every single one, including aeronautical and mobility, there’s a widespread and growing demand for quality connectivity.”
Yet Rasoulian cautions that “the airline industry is highly competitive and managing the costs associated with inflight connectivity and technology upgrades will be an area of focus. Providing future proof connectivity solutions that don’t require a full rip-and-replace can allow airlines to offer a better connectivity experience while reducing capital expenses. Continual improvements to the connectivity experience will increase passenger loyalty.”
Expanding use cases drive adoption, which then opens up more use cases — and innovation opportunities
Historically, inflight connectivity has come as part of the inflight entertainment world, partly because passenger-facing connectivity made good business sense, and partly because early players in the connectivity game leveraged their market exposure in inflight entertainment and the relationships that came with it to their benefit.
However, Valour Consultancy cofounder and senior consultant Craig Foster tells us that a recent report reveals “that 22,000 commercial aircraft — sixty percent — will be fitted with inflight connectivity by 2032. This opens the prospect of a sea change in the inflight entertainment industry as the need for content, and by extension, content service providers, may begin to decline.”
The evolution of the relationship between connectivity and entertainment will continue.
Viasat’s Buchman also sees opportunity in this space. “The most exciting changes just starting are the convergence of the seatback screen and connectivity. At Viasat, we have expected this, and are seeing the first real use cases that are bringing real value to airlines, passengers and travel partners. It is early innings, and we are excited to be a vital part of this next innovation wave.”
There is still much space for new ideas, new partnerships, and new synergies within the industry within the digitalisation space.
“The post-pandemic industry is hungry for innovation,” AERQ’s Bintaro says. “Due to the growing demand for air travel, airlines are seeking new technology and are willing to invest in their aircraft, which includes the digitalisation of their cabins.”
Here, she cites potential “cannibalisation” of the traditional inflight entertainment model with the increasingly performing personal devices passengers are bringing on board. With this model previously driving substantial digitalisation cost-benefit analyses on the aircraft, “the increased connectivity in the aircraft cabin might be a risk, but at the same time it is a major opportunity as it enables many use cases that just have not been possible before, allowing the aircraft cabin to move closer to technologies and opportunities we know from the ground,” Bintaro says.
The industry’s changing engagement with the Internet of Things, from “e-enablement” to “smart cabins” and beyond, has led to a burgeoning of sensors and a corresponding wealth of data — in many cases too much to process using current methodologies.
Within the aircraft, Valour’s Craig Foster highlights that “the addition of sensors to aircraft seats, lavatories, overhead bins, galleys and other aircraft interiors can create ‘self-aware’ cabins to improve the passenger experience, help airlines realise cost savings and enable more intelligent maintenance. Attention will increasingly turn to how the ‘Internet of Aircraft Things’ can improve efficiencies. But a risk in this regard is a lack of standardisation, the existence of closed APIs, multiple competing connectivity technologies, and the failure of a single entity to successfully act as the central point of integration.”
Contributing to aviation’s more sustainable future is a key element for any part of the industry, and the way digitalisation can drive sustainability improvements will be a vital part of the puzzle.
“Sustainability is as important to our airline customers as ever before, and connectivity can play a role,” says Viasat’s Buchman. “Some examples of connectivity’s role include Iris, supporting airlines to fly more efficiently, and the sustainability element related to the European Aviation Network’s inflight connectivity solution, which uses a low weight, low drag terminal.”
Developing new business models, Buchman continues, is critical, with Viasat working on “various business models for airlines: free, ad-sponsored free, paid sessions, and so on. We have an established process for supporting airlines in getting where they want to go through connectivity services, and they often have huge, specific visions of success.”
More than ever before, that vision of success varies with differing interpretations of the role connectivity plays as part of the digitalised aviation industry. Adapting to each of those visions — for each airline, airport, air navigation provider, regulator or other player — will be crucial as aviation continues to navigate the digital sky.
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