Tokyo and Lake Forest, CA | July 23, 2014– Skymark Airlines, Japan’s third largest airline, has chosen Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s (‘Panasonic’) global connectivity service, eXConnect, to provide its passengers with free-of-charge in-flight Wi-Fi service.

Passengers will be able to stay on top of current events as they surf the web, keep in touch with friends and family through their social networks, and even check email and send the latest edits to their upcoming sales presentation to their colleagues – all at 35,000 feet.

For domestic routes, Skymark Airlines will introduce this free service on its fleet of new Airbus A330s. They will also expect to offer this same free-of-charge Wi-Fi experience on their international A380 fleet that will be initially flying to North America.

Mr. Shinichi Nishikubo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Skymark Airlines said, “Our customers love in-flight Wi-Fi, and today, we are taking a strategic step forward to ensure that our passengers can be both entertained and productive everywhere our aircraft fly. We look forward to launching this extremely exciting service with our partners at Panasonic Avionics.”

Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer for Panasonic said, “We continue to see rising demand for connectivity from airlines across the globe because today’s travellers expect to be perpetually connected — even when they fly. We are honored to have been chosen by Skymark to support their unique business model and their vision for in-flight entertainment.”

Lake Forest, CA | June 19, 2014– Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) today announced a landmark agreement with Eutelsat America Corp. (EAC), Eutelsat’s US subsidiary, to deliver unmatched in-flight broadband connectivity services to aircraft flying high traffic routes spanning the West coast of North America, to Asia, and down to Australia and Pacific islands.

With 99.6 percent of all airline routes covered by its service, Panasonic today offers the most capable and comprehensive connectivity solution including in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile phone and live television service, using the only satellite network that is solely dedicated to commercial aviation.

Panasonic is continuing to make substantial investments in ‘High Throughput Satellites’ to ensure airlines and their passengers receive the highest bandwidth for the lowest possible cost both now and for the foreseeable future. The EUTELSAT 172B ‘High Throughput’ satellite, which is scheduled to launch in 2017, will seamlessly integrate into Panasonic’s powerful network architecture tailored to the unique requirements of global aviation. It allows Panasonic to proactively address the expanding connectivity market — specifically in the fast growing Asia Pacific region — and the ever-increasing demand for data services by passengers.

High Throughput Satellites use a combination of spot beams and high level frequency re-use to provide much wider bandwidth and faster data speeds as passengers browse the internet and use other online services. They also use a broad overlay beam, which is used to economically deliver up to eight channels of live television to passengers in flight.

Through this purpose-built network architecture now including EUTELSAT 172B Panasonic will provide up to 200 megabytes per spot beam – four times more bandwidth than its nearest competitor.

Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics, said: “Demand for in-flight connectivity is increasing exponentially, especially in Asia. This agreement with a capable technology partner such as Eutelsat represents a continuation of our commitment to serve the aviation industry with the most capable and comprehensive connectivity solution available today and in the future.”

Following a fiercely contested competition, Eutelsat was selected as a result of its decision to install a replacement satellite at a key strategic location on Panasonic’s global network, offering excellent orbital slot and frequency coordination.

Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat Chairman and CEO said: “EUTELSAT 172B is ideally positioned to serve the rapidly growing in-flight connectivity market in this region, and we welcome Panasonic Avionics Corp. as an anchor tenant on this state-of-the-art satellite. Their long-term commitment to this location underscores its unmatched vantage point over a wide and underserved area spanning from the West coast of North America, to Asia and down to Australia and Pacific islands.”

Mexico City, Mexico and Lake Forest, California | June 5, 2014– Aeromexico, Mexico’s global airline, has chosen Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) as its ground-breaking global in-flight broadband Wi-Fi provider.

It will become the first airline in Latin America to offer in-flight broadband by choosing Panasonic’s Ku-band satellite service – the only global network solely dedicated to aviation.

Aeromexico has selected the in-flight Wi-Fi service for nine of its new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner fleet.

Andres Conesa, Aeromexico’s CEO, said: “This exciting development underlines our commitment to provide the very best service to our customers with the very best technology, on board the best aircraft with the finest crew. We are delighted to further extend our partnership with Panasonic.”

Panasonic Avionics CEO Paul Margis said: “We are thrilled that Aeromexico has chosen Panasonic to provide such an exciting and strategic service. Their passengers can now expect an incredible entertainment experience and broadband Wi-Fi everywhere these aircraft fly.”

Aeromexico’s 787s also will include a state-of-the-art Panasonic’s in-flight entertainment system with 16” Elite High Definition Panasonic screens in Clase Premier and Eco Monitor Touch Screens in the Economy Class cabin. They also will offer a moving map application that provides flight information in real time, a Jukebox application that allows passengers to create a personalized playlist from the 1,500 songs featured in the system, and Panasonic’s SeatChat solution, which lets passengers use the IFE system to send messages to other travellers throughout the cabin.

Hamburg, Germany | April 9, 2014– Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) today announced the introduction of Panasonic HD-AUDIO™, a revolutionary audio solution for in-flight entertainment developed in collaboration with Soundchip SA, a leading supplier of wearable sound solutions.

For the first time ever passengers will be immersed into a fully digital sonic experience with seven unique features never seen before on an aircraft.

Passengers will benefit from unprecedented sound quality that is free of clicks, pops and interference, digital surround sound; a passenger-controlled equalizer; noise cancellation; Bluetooth integration with mobile phones and other devices; seat to seat, seat to ground and multi-passenger voice calls; and the ability to converse naturally with a flight attendant or other passengers without having to remove their headphones.

Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer for Panasonic Avionics, said: “We joined forces with Soundchip to rethink all aspects of our sound experience and deliver yet another leap forward for our airline customers and their passengers. Our X Series systems are renowned for their unmatched picture quality and today we are bringing that same level of innovation to sound by reinventing the audio experience.”

Mark Donaldson, CEO of Soundchip said, “In 2011, Soundchip and Panasonic recognized the need to modernize in-flight audio, and in launching Panasonic HD-AUDIO™. Today we are pleased to have brought together a remarkable solution that delivers the same sonic thrills in the air as passengers are used to on the ground.”

Panasonic HD-AUDIO™ significantly improves listening comfort by employing state-of-the-art, digital Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling (H-ANC), which is able to suppress more background noise than ever before. By combining this capability with an exciting new feature called “open-ear”, a passenger can converse naturally with a headset still in place.

By embracing an entirely digital approach, Panasonic HD-AUDIO™ offers unprecedented sound quality that is free of clicks, pops and interference. Its digital design supports the implementation of digital surround sound processing and parametric audio equalizer, which renders an immersive sound stage to provide a theatre-like listening experience.

Panasonic HD-AUDIO™ comprises a compatible headset that connects to the IFEC system via a standard USB port. Custom software installed at the seat manages the audio streaming between the headset and the in-flight entertainment and communications (IFEC) system’s media and telecommunications services. Passengers may adjust the way in which sound is presented through intuitive controls that are unobtrusively embedded within the touch panel’s graphical-user-interface.

Panasonic HD-AUDIO™ supports Wide Band (WB) voice telephony for seat-to-seat, seat-to-ground and multi-passenger VoIP conference calling. Call quality and speaking comfort are matched only by modern, terrestrial-based communication systems and audio levels can be intelligently configured to encourage callers to speak softly.

To assist the airline operator directly, Panasonic HD-AUDIO employs advanced algorithms to actively monitor the connected headset’s status, reporting fault conditions to the IFEC system via BITE. Updates to the system may also be implemented in software rather than requiring expensive changes to IFEC hardware.

To support the rollout of this exclusive software-headset solution, Panasonic and Soundchip will provide airline headphone manufacturers with the technology and tools needed to develop and produce their own HD-AUDIO compatible headsets.

Lake Forest, CA | March 26, 2014– Japan Airlines (JAL) has selected Panasonic Avionics (Panasonic) for a major expansion of in-flight Wi-Fi for its international fleet which includes Boeing 787s, Boeing 777-200ERs and Boeing 767-300ERs.

The commitment comes after a successful introduction of Panasonic’s broadband Wi-Fi service on 13 of Japan Airlines’ 777s that have been flying international routes since July 2012.

The carrier has become one of the first airlines to offer internet access, email services, and more on flights between Japan and Europe and across the Pacific to North America.

Jun Kato, Executive Officer of Marketing & Branding for Japan Airlines said, “With worldwide coverage, unmatched regulatory approvals, and plans to deploy the world’s highest bandwidth global network, it was an easy decision to choose Panasonic for our widebody aircraft.  Our passengers love this high speed service, and we look forward to offering it on all of our international routes.”

Paul Margis, Chief Executive Officer for Panasonic Avionics, said, “We are honored that Japan Airlines has selected Panasonic to provide broadband connectivity services across their international fleet.  Our unique offering of global satellite coverage and capacity coupled with the necessary regulatory approvals and real-time 24/7 monitoring with our Mission Control Center, is making the difference for our customers.”

Panasonic’s in-flight connectivity service helps create a connected experience in air that is similar to what travelers experience each day on the ground. It provides two-way broadband communications to an aircraft and supports internet access, email, social network access and other crew and passenger applications.  It also offers airlines the ability to streamline their operations by enabling electronic flight bag, real-time weather updates, live engine monitoring and other services.

Lake Forest, California | March 13, 2014– Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) today announced that it will double the size of its connectivity-equipped fleet by the end of 2014 following FAA certification of a bird strike compliant radome for B777-200 aircraft.

The STC (supplemental type certificate) for the B777-200 radome paves the way for approvals on other aircraft types. Panasonic currently has more than 150 B777-200 aircraft scheduled for installation, and further STC approvals are expected in April for the B757, and for the B767 in September.

Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation says: “Airlines are requiring that their aircraft be connected quickly, and the demand for Ku-band in-flight connectivity services is enormous. This week’s STC approval marks a major step forward in our rapid installation program.

“By the end of this year, 23 airlines will be taking advantage of our unique global high speed satellite network enabling their passengers to stay connected in-flight.”

Earlier this week, Panasonic completed the installation of its award-wining Global Communications Services on the 400^th aircraft, which is a United Airlines B747-400 commissioned in China.  Over the last five days, Panasonic has installed its global broadband Wi-Fi service on nine separate aircraft for five different customers including the B747-400 mentioned above, plus three B777-300s, two B747-800s, an A330, an A320, and an A319.  The first A380 test flight with Panasonic’s global broadband Wi-Fi service installed also occurred this week in Hamburg.

Moving forward, Panasonic will increase installations by 30 percent and equip up to 40 aircraft installations of all types per month.  The company expects to have over 800 aircraft using its broadband in-flight Wi-Fi service by December of 2014.

Lake Forest, CA | December 23, 2013– Panasonic Avionics has signed a definitive agreement with China Telecom Satellite Communications Limited to jointly develop, implement and support in-flight connectivity solutions for Chinese airlines.

The agreement will also make possible the provision of in-flight broadband connectivity to Panasonic’s 39 customer airlines when flying into and over China. As part of the agreement China Telecom Satellite will operate a teleport in Beijing, China to service the aeronautical broadband service for Panasonic.

Now the new teleport is ready for service and will launch the service commercially following the final approval from the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Panasonic Avionics’ eXConnect system uses its global Ku-band aeronautical satellite network to deliver inflight broadband connectivity, enabling passengers to access the internet, compose and send email or log onto their favorite social media sites.

Paul Margis, CEO of Panasonic Avionics, says: “Over the past six months since we announced the MOU with China Telecom Satellite, we have made great progress and now have completed the cooperation agreement. Now we are collectively ready to begin this very important service to our airline customers and their passengers. This is a very important accomplishment and we thank China Telecom Satellite for their excellent contribution.”

Lv Junli, President of China Telecom Satellite, says: “We are very pleased to announce this great milestone of progress with our partner Panasonic. We are very pleased to work with Panasonic to provide inflight communications to both international and Chinese airlines.”

The parties plan to begin offering inflight connectivity services as soon as all necessary approvals are in place.

Lake  Forest, CA | September 27, 2013–  Singapore Airlines has taken to the skies with its first of eight new Boeing 777-300ERs equipped with Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s (Panasonic) true broadband Wi-Fi, mobile phone service and revolutionary in-flight entertainment experience.

Paul Margis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation stated, “By combining our latest IFE solutions with our Global Communications Services, Panasonic and Singapore Airlines have transformed the entertainment experience.  Passengers will be captivated by inflight entertainment content on high-performance HD monitors while they simultaneously stay connected, surf the web, text, and email — all at 30,000 feet.”

With partners Deutsche Telekom and AeroMobile, Panasonic will deliver broadband Wi-Fi, mobile data and services, and passengers will use their own devices to connect to their social networks, access real-time news and information, and communicate with their family, friends and co-workers. Using HDMI and USB interfaces, passengers can also integrate their personal device with KrisWorld and view their own content on large, high-definition displays.

Enabled by high performance 24-inch, 18-inch and 11-inch high-definition displays, SIA’s KrisWorld inflight entertainment system will feature Panasonic’s open platform technology that delivers a more personal experience and intuitive navigation similar to tablets and smartphones, including multi-tasking using the video touch screen handset as a “second screen.”