June 16, 2015 – Airbus has selected Zodiac Inflight Innovations as a Buyer Furnished Equipment supplier for the Airbus High Bandwidth Connectivity (HBC) solution, to supply aircraft equipment and other terminal hardware. As lead supplier, Zodiac Inflight Innovations will manage the integration of the system and facilitate the Inmarsat Global Xpress service directly.
“High Bandwidth Connectivity (HBC) represents the new generation of connectivity services for both passengers and airlines”, said Matt Smith, CEO at Zodiac Inflight Innovations. “The system provides high-speed Internet to passengers, and many other opportunities for airline ancillary revenue for example, and airlines will be able to improve operation via real time aircraft monitoring.”
The current scope of this HBC program covers the Ka-band system for A320, A330 and A380 aircraft. Larry Girard, EVP at Zodiac Inflight Innovations explained, “The end result will be that airlines will be able to have different HBC options on multiple aircraft types, while providing a consistent service to both passengers and the airlines’ day-to-day operations.”
“As the lead supplier, Zodiac Inflight Innovations’ role is bringing together all the components for the High Bandwidth Connectivity program, including our own, and matching them to the Airbus process”, continued Girard.
Zodiac Inflight Innovations is providing an ARINC-791 compliant radome, adapter plate, skirt seal, antenna, as well as other terminal hardware. The radome and adapter plate have been designed to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate other Ka-band antennas, minimizing the work required for future HBC systems.
“We are building very a strong relationship with Airbus,” concluded Girard. “Not only is Zodiac Inflight Innovations a supplier selected to provide HBC equipment, but also our inflight entertainment solutions are approved as linefit on A330 Long Range, and under study on other aircraft types.”
