Thales Aerospace announced here yesterday that its TopFlight second-generation Inmarsat satcoms system had completed Airbus and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification aboard the Airbus A318 narrowbody airliner and was ready for commercial introduction.
The system forms part of the onboard mobile phone installation developed by Airbus/SITA joint venture OnAir and soon to be trialled by Air France and introduced fleetwide by low-cost carrier Ryanair. Around 50 sets of hardware were delivered last month and the first retrofit in a Ryanair 737 is scheduled for next month.
The company is also adapting TopFlight for the business aviation market. The repackaged system is in laboratory development and is due to be flight-trialled in the first quarter of next year.
“There is a real appetite for broadband connectivity in corporate aviation,” said Richard Deakin, the company’s UK managing director. “We have a launch customer and will deliver in the second quarter of next year.”
Thales is also working to integrate TopFlight with the company’s TopSeries inflight entertainment system, which is entering service with growing numbers of leading carriers worldwide.
“The aim is ultimately to make it possible for every single passenger to be a node on the aircraft and air-to-ground networks,” said Deakin.
Source: Flight Daily News