Friday, April 7, 2017

Qantas Debuts First ViaSat Powered Wi-Fi Flight

Carlsbad-based ViaSat said this morning that it is powering the new gate-to-gate, in-flight Wi-Fi service for Qantas, in a partnership with Australian broadband network provider nbn. Qantas announced its new in-flight Wi-Fi service this morning on its first, domestic Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The single plane is a beta test for production rollout on that aircraft, and eventually, wider rollout to its fleet. ViaSat and Qantas said they expect to outfit its domestic fleet of Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft starting sometime this year. Qantas said it expects the system to be installed in all 80 of its domestic aircraft by the end of 2018. ViaSat's service is accessed via a high speed satellite link.