Not all airline passengers need or expect an on-the-ground web surfing experience from inflight connectivity. In fact, studies show that most people who connect to inflight Wi-Fi use it primarily for social media messaging.
With our lighter LEO solution, passengers can stay in touch through messaging like WhatsApp and iMessage, or any other service that you choose to enable. They can send text-based emails and access live RSS feeds, or benefit from real-time destination and onward travel information.
Our LEO connectivity solution means you can offer passengers a broader range of inflight products and services such as the ability to book hotel rooms, destination experiences and ground transport. Live payment verification and real-time booking confirmations provide peace of mind for their onward journey.
Installing our LEO solution could not be easier and is ideal for leased aircraft. We place an antenna, smaller than a pen, inside one window on each side of the plane in just a few hours. This installation is considered a minor modification, for which we have prepared all the necessary paperwork.
Each window-mounted antenna points toward the horizon where it scans for satellites in the Iridium LEO constellation that it can connect to. This gives our antennas a 330-degree view so we can always connect to a satellite. Passengers and flight crew access the connectivity service through AirFi boxes.
In a patent-pending feature that is unique to AirFi, mesh networking is used so that the connected AirFi boxes can constantly manage and direct devices to the receiver that has the strongest signal, balancing the system’s workload for optimal performance.
LEO connectivity represents true innovation from a company that never stops pushing the envelope of inflight technology. It’s all part of our grand vision to connect people and enable airlines to do more for less.