Stellar Entertainment & China Airlines | Inmarsat’s Jet ConneX | Seamless Air Alliance | Deutsche Telekom & Inmarsat | SITA | Other News

(Today’s image is from China Airlines’ boarding video)

STELLAR ENTERTAINMENT

IFE content specialists Stellar Entertainment recently collaborated with China Airlines to produce a customized boarding video to warmly welcome passengers onboard in a unique way. The video, which rolled out across the fleet in the first quarter of 2022, conveys the airline’s brand, values and message via soothing music and alluring visuals that resonate the beauty of Taiwan.

In addition to decades of experience curating, acquiring and delivering a broad range of IFE content for airline clients, Stellar Entertainment also has a reputation for creating engaging bespoke content, especially original boarding music. Through its studio production arm, the creative team worked closely with China Airlines to deliver a captivating boarding video encompassing five thematic segments.

Stellar’s Creative Director Brad Power shares, “One of the challenges during this project relates to the video duration. At approximately 14 minutes, both the visual content and music had to take the passenger on a journey. The ebb and flow, and musical dynamics must all contribute to the outcome and leave the viewer with the desired mood and mindset.”

The process began by briefing Stellar’s in-house composer who came up with a musical direction that would guide the work of Stellar’s graphic designer and video editor. One of the unique aspects of the China Airlines boarding video is the usage of Stellar’s very own original music composition, tailored to align perfectly with the visuals and with the airline’s requirements.

Meanwhile, the images used throughout the video were sourced from stock libraries, but primarily licensed work from a freelance photographer specialising in time lapse footage of picturesque Taiwanese scenes. Great care and much time were invested to meticulously select over 80 images along with subsequent graphic text accompanying the visuals. “It certainly helps that in visually showcasing the beauty of Taiwan, we had a wonderful palette of images to choose from, ranging from natural landscapes, cityscapes, famous Taiwanese attractions, wildlife and more,” remarks Power. By using these existing high-quality images, Stellar was able to save on expenses and time spent shooting the footage on-location.

INMARSAT

Inmarsat unveiled initial details of a major upgrade program that will increase the inflight broadband speeds offered by its Jet ConneX(JX) business aviation solution. Information about the ground-breaking program, titled JX Evolution, were announced for the first time at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Switzerland.

JX Evolution will set an unprecedented new standard for business aviation inflight connectivity by leveraging Inmarsat’s global Ka-band satellite network, including enhanced capabilities from its highly advanced upcoming satellites, in addition to the latest terminal technology from partners.

Initial testing for the upcoming program has already demonstrated speeds in excess of 130 megabits per second (Mbps) using Inmarsat’s existing satellites. This will enable users to simultaneously connect even more devices and enjoy even the most data-hungry applications, such as high definition video, without interruption. As an example, it would take 23 seconds to download a high definition movie.

Speeds will further increase as a result of Inmarsat’s fully-funded technology roadmap, with seven satellite payloads being introduced to its Ka-band constellation, increasing the total number to 12. This includes two Inmarsat-6s, the most sophisticated commercial communications satellites ever built, which enter service next year. They will be followed by two payloads in highly elliptical orbit, enabling the world’s only commercial mobile broadband service for business jets flying in higher latitudes and across the Arctic, then three more satellites in geostationary orbit – adding further speed, capacity and resilience.

JX Evolution will also leverage the latest terminal advancements from Inmarsat’s partners, which are compatible with a wide range of business jets, using cutting-edge technology and lightweight designs to optimize performance, reduce costs and simplify the installation and maintenance processes.

Kai Tang, Inmarsat’s Head of Business Aviation, said “Inmarsat’s Jet ConneX is regarded as the gold standard of business aviation connectivity and its market leadership has only been reinforced following the pandemic, with soaring demand for inflight broadband that is fast, reliable and consistent across all flight routes. Inmarsat’s JX Evolution follows our ethos of building ahead of demand and the new service plans that will launch as part of this program will redefine the concept of premium connectivity.

“Speeds in excess of 130Mbps are exciting and customers can expect even higher numbers as we launch more advanced satellites in the coming years. Our fully funded technology roadmap will offer more than enough capacity to meet the needs of existing and future customers through to 2030 and beyond. We are especially excited about the second generation terminals that our partners are building to join the very successful JetWave terminal currently used for JX.”

JX Evolution will lead to a new range of service plans for JX, which first entered commercial service in November 2016 and has been activated on more than 1,150 aircraft to date. As the business aviation market’s leading inflight connectivity service, it offers the same level of reliable, consistent and high-speed broadband that was previously only available on the ground, supporting a wide range of online activities, such as video streaming, live television, video calls, large file transfers and VPN.

JX is the preferred linefit option of all major business jet manufacturers, including Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault. Type certificates and supplemental type certificates (STCs) for the service have been received from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) across all popular platforms, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket maintenance repair and overhaul service providers (MROs).

SEAMLESS AIR ALLIANCE

The Seamless Air Alliance, which continues to lead the development and implementation of Global Standards for Inflight Connectivity, today launched an Inflight Connectivity (IFC) Analysis Toolkit to help airlines adopt vetted, trusted metrics for measuring and comparing IFC Service Quality in RFPs and performance management conversations.

The IFC Analysis Toolkit provides a clear set of features and measurements to recognize and manage IFC Service Quality. Included in the toolkit are a suite of easy-to-use documents and a comprehensive Compliance Criteria Matrix that can be used by an airline to simplify the process of assembling an RFP, comparing responses, and opening discussions with both current and prospective suppliers.

Gordon Shelhon, Senior Technology Manager at American Airlines said, “The industry as a whole is making a huge leap forward by adopting the compliance criteria metrics defined in the Seamless Air Alliance IFC Analysis Toolkit. As a network engineer with decades of experience in wireless technology, I remember when connectivity at 500+ MPH was first introduced. At the time, connectivity was a new concept and airlines deployed these systems with little insight into the customer experience. SLA’s were limited to measurements for availability that only required a simple ping, which didn’t give the airline or supplier any insight into the customer experience. With the introduction of the Seamless Air Alliance IFC Analysis Toolkit, airlines adopting these standards will be better positioned to develop meaningful SLA’s with a focus on customer experience and metrics that truly reflect that experience.”

Commenting on the launch, Jack Mandala, Seamless Air Alliance Chief Executive Officer said that “Airlines looking for a new connectivity system can use the IFC Analysis Toolkit as a basis for building RFP criteria and comparing suppliers during the process. Airlines with existing providers, can use the toolkit to better understand the experience that passengers are having with their inflight connectivity system by ensuring they are tracking the right metrics. In both scenarios the winner is the airline passenger.”

The standardized measurements provided in the IFC Analysis Toolkit were built from the ground up based on years of knowledge and experience from airlines and experts across the industry. The Seamless Air Alliance believes that tracking these measures helps provide a true picture of the passengers’ experience that is otherwise lost in aggregate metrics.

The IFC Analysis Toolkit is available for no-charge to current Seamless Air Alliance Members and is available for purchase to non-members. Airlines that are not currently Seamless Air Alliance Members can join for free and gain access to the IFC Toolkit.

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM & INMARSAT

Deutsche Telekom and Inmarsat have boosted the capacity of their award-winning European Aviation Network(EAN) inflight broadband solution by collaborating with Tampnet, a global leader in providing high capacity, low latency and reliable connectivity to offshore installations, mobile rigs and vessels.

The additional coverage follows the installation and maintenance of five EAN antenna sites on offshore production platforms in the North Sea. Two additional antenna sites are being placed in offshore wind farms within the coastal waters of Germany and the Netherlands (exclusive economic zones) and one more is already operational onshore in Norway. The new sites are located strategically to further enhance EAN’s high-speed passenger connectivity on flights in Northern Europe, including high-density flight routes between the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. They complement the 300 LTE-based ground network antenna sites already set up across Europe and will further strengthen EAN’s combined satellite and air-to-ground network performance.

The five sea-based antenna sites are co-located on the top of existing communication infrastructure on offshore production platforms and therefore benefit from Tampnet’s extensive fibre network in the area. The necessary equipment elements were brought in via helicopter in often challenging weather conditions and installed according to stringent security requirements on the offshore production platforms. All engineering and installation activities were conducted in close cooperation with the platform owners and operators.

Rolf Nafziger, Senior Vice President of Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, said “With the installation of eight more antenna sites in and around the North Sea, we are proud to bring additional network capacity to an already exceptional connectivity service. The European Aviation Network gives European aviation a global advantage: Airlines get high speed and scalable connectivity with low operating costs and pan-European coverage. Passengers get a seamless service that is as good as a broadband connection on the ground.”

Philippe Carette, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said “The European Aviation Network is well established as the continent’s fastest inflight broadband solution, available to millions of passengers on short and medium haul flights with British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and AEGEAN. For airlines, it has played an important role in enhancing the onboard experience, unlocking new revenue opportunities and instilling greater confidence in air travel. This latest enhancement coincides with the third anniversary of the service being offered to passengers by our airline customers, with passenger usage at record highs following the pandemic.”

Elie Hanna, CEO of Tampnet said: “Tampnet is very proud to partner with Deutsche Telekom and Inmarsat on such an innovative project. Our extensive offshore network was the perfect fit for the EAN project. Installing and maintaining an LTE network offshore is very challenging and we were honoured to have the opportunity to extend our expertise and engage in such an innovative and significant project for Europe and the aviation industry. Going forward, Tampnet will support the project by delivering fibre backhaul and maintenance to the base stations providing additional coverage to the airspace above the North Sea. The fact that the network is fully supported by our subsea network ensures its scalability for future capacity needs.”

The network enhancement marks an exciting new development for EAN, which is the world’s first inflight broadband solution that combines dedicated satellite coverage with a complementary LTE-based ground network. Offering incomparable speeds, uninterrupted coverage and significantly lower latency than any other inflight Wi-Fi network in the continent, it allows passengers to seamlessly browse the internet, stream videos, check social media, enjoy real-time interactive applications such as gaming, and more.

Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom recently celebrated the third anniversary of EAN being offered commercially by airline customers. To date, more than 55 million passengers have enjoyed access to the advanced, high-speed connectivity solution on over 440,000 flights across the continent. Its popularity reached new heights last year, with record usage as passengers returned to the skies. This aligns with Inmarsat’s latest Passenger Confidence Tracker, the largest global survey of its kind, which found that 41% of the 10,000 respondents believed inflight Wi-Fi had further increased in importance post pandemic.

Specifically designed to meet the needs of European aviation, EAN delivers the fastest speeds over one of the world’s most congested airspaces, plus the quickest installation times and easy scalability to meet growing future demand. It has now been activated on over 270 aircraft, including the entire British Airways short-haul fleet. These numbers will continue to grow in the coming years, as final roll-out progresses with Iberia and Vueling – both members of the International Airlines Group (IAG) alongside British Airways – in addition to all of Greek carrier AEGEAN’s existing and new Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.

SITA

The global mishandled baggage rate has spiked by 24% to 4.35 bags per thousand passengers in 2021 as the industry recovers from the pandemic, according to the SITA Baggage IT Insights 2022.

The report shows passenger traffic has evolved since 2020, with most of the 2021 recovery being driven by domestic travel, but the resumption of international and long-haul flights is contributing to an increase in mishandling.

Transfer bags continue to account for most mishandled bags. An increase in long-haul flights with connections in 2021 has pushed up the bags delayed at transfer to 41%, which is 4 points increase from 2020. The mishandling rate at the global level on international routes is 8.7, yet only 1.85 for domestic routes. Put differently, at a global level, the likelihood of mishandling a bag is about 4.7 times higher on international routes compared to domestic routes.

Delayed bags accounted for 71% of all mishandled bags in 2021 – a 2 points increase from 2020. At the same time, the number of lost and stolen bags increased slightly to 6%, while those damaged and pilfered decreased to 23%.

Airlines, ground handlers, and airports have downsized to maintain viability during the pandemic, which has impacted resources and expertise dedicated to baggage management. Unaddressed, this challenge may see the mishandling rate continue to creep up and become much higher than it was pre-pandemic.

David Lavorel, CEO, SITA, said: “The industry now needs to do more with less. As we emerge from the pandemic, our customers’ focus remains on safely managing the end-to-end transport of passengers’ baggage, but now they must also reduce the total cost and training required. There is significant pressure to increase operational efficiency, which is accelerating digitalization.”

In 2021 investment in self-service initiatives continued to increase. A large majority of airports and almost all airlines are prioritizing touchless bag tagging options that rely on kiosks and passengers’ mobile devices. Implementation of unassisted bag drop is increasing, with 90% of airlines and three-quarters of airports planning to make touchless unassisted self-bag drop available by 2024.

Digitalization also ensures that the recovery progresses efficiently, saving resources and ensuring operations can quickly adapt to fluctuating passenger numbers. There is no better way to ensure efficiency in baggage operations than to avoid mishandling in the first place, preventing the additional costs and resources required to repatriate bags to their owners.

“SITA has worked to refine its baggage portfolio to do just that, with the introduction of innovative solutions such as SITA WorldTracer Lost and Found Property, an artificial intelligence-enabled solution that solves a million-dollar headache for the air transport industry: how to quickly return items left behind on aircraft or in airports to their owners. Using cutting-edge technology such as computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing, WorldTracer Lost and Found Property searches a global database of images and descriptions to match the found item to a missing item report.

“We will continue to collaborate and support the industry to reduce mishandled baggage rates while driving operational efficiencies and sustainable solutions when needed the most,” said Lavorel.

Download the SITA Baggage IT Insights 2022 report here.

OTHER NEWS

• We want to point you toward Akins Laws of Spacecraft Design for some interesting philosophical views of reality decision making. Here is an example, number 12: “There is never a single right solution. There are always multiple wrong ones, though.” And yes, there are 45 more here : Akin’s Laws of Spacecraft Design