Having signed three MoUs at the AIX show, broadband satellite service and managed network solution provider Hughes is furthering the airline travellers’ “insatiable need for connectivity”.
Speaking to FlightGlobal during the show, Reza Rasoulian, senior vice president of Hughes’ aviation and mobility business unit, also flags the signing of an MoU with Airbus to become a managed service provider for the Airbus HBCplus catalogue offering to airlines.
“This partnership is a testament to our ongoing efforts to provide airlines with access to top-tier connectivity, underpinned by the Hughes cutting-edge network management and service provisioning,” he says.
This MoU is the first step for Hughes towards integration into the Airbus network of managed service providers as a Ka-band provider. Rasoulian says: “It was a natural progression for us to join the HBCplus programme and we see a lot of need for high-speed connectivity on aircraft with a proper managed service solution, which is really what Hughes brings to the table.”
Although this contract focuses on Ka-band connectivity, Rasoulian describes how Hughes’ agnostic approach – including Ka, Ku, LEO and GEO solutions – can “bring a lot of capacity to an aircraft and make sure that capacity gets to the end customer,” drawing on the company’s two decades of experience.
He added that as the industry continues to expand post-pandemic – with around 10,000 connected aircraft in service today – and customer expectations continue to rise, the increased use of automation is also “absolutely relevant” in today’s environment. AI is an area Hughes first deployed in base equipment over five years ago, but which has since migrated to be deployed onboard too.
“Through our managed service expertise, we added a layer on top of al our networks to anticipate problems – we have self healing capabilities within the network system – and taken that learning and put it on the aircraft,” he says.
