Airbus has selected Panasonic Avionics as a managed service provider (MSP) for its Airspace Link HBCplus (HBCplus) Ku-band connectivity solution, which will be offered as a line-fit catalogue or retrofit option on all its aircraft programmes. This selection, announced at this week’s APEX Expo in Long Beach, California, firms-up an earlier MoU phase which was revealed at Aircraft Interiors Expo in June this year.
As an MSP for HBCplus, Panasonic Avionics will be able to integrate its multi-orbit connectivity service, a blend of LEO (low earth orbit) and GEO (geostationary equatorial orbit) satellite constellations, onto Airbus aircraft, using an electronically steered antenna (ESA) with a multi-beam operation that can simultaneously access Panasonic Avionics’ LEO and GEO networks.
“HBCplus aligns perfectly with our multi-orbit strategy and will seamlessly integrate with our LEO and GEO connectivity solutions.” Said John Wade, vice president of Panasonic Avionics’ in-flight connectivity business unit.
This announcement follows the news in 2022 that Panasonic Avionics has partnered with OneWeb to market, sell and support its high-speed, low-latency LEO in-flight broadband services to commercial airlines worldwide. Latency, the responsiveness of a network which impacts all activities online, is reduced on LEO to below 100 milliseconds, delivering a responsive in-flight connectivity experience to passengers when connected to this satellite constellation. Panasonic Avionics offers OneWeb’s global service stand-alone or paired with its GEO service, which covers 99.6% of the world’s flight routes.
Panasonic Avionics is the first OneWeb partner to make its connectivity available through HBCplus.
