Abra launches in-flight connectivity through SES multi-orbit craft

The rush by airlines to boost in-flight connectivity as part of their overall customer experience proposition continues, with leading Latin America air transportation company Abra Group launching what it says will be fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity on more than 100 of its aircraft.

Abra Group comprises a pan-Latin American network of brands that aims to offer the lowest unit cost on the market. Brands include Gol and Avianca under a single leadership, and the group has a strategic investment in Wamos Air along with a minority stake investment in Sky Airline Chile.

Overall, the group consolidates a team of around 30,000 personnel and a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, with scheduled flights serving over 25 countries and more than 140 destinations. Gol is one of Brazil’s leading airlines, operating a fleet of 143 Boeing 737 aircraft and employing 13,900.

Avianca, the second-oldest airline in the world, operates more than 140 A320 and B787 passenger aircraft, as well as six cargo aircraft, and has more than 14,000 employees. Wamos Air is claimed to be Europe’s leader in wide-body ACMI operations, operating 13 A330 passenger aircraft.

The connectivity has been delivered by SES in a move that positions it as a leading provider of satellite-powered broadband inflight service in the Americas.

With 10 Airbus A320s now operational, Avianca is among the first in Latin America to offer Wi-Fi service using SES’s electronically steered array (ESA) antenna, which is less than seven centimetres high and is claimed to deliver “unmatched reliability”, connecting to both SES’s family of geostationary satellites and partner constellation of low Earth orbit satellites.

With progressive installation planned, more than 100 Airbus and Boeing aircraft in the Abra Group fleet are set to offer the SES service in the coming years.

Commenting on the deployment, Francisco Raddatz, chief procurement officer of Abra Group, said: “At Abra Group, we continue to bring next-generation solutions onboard to make connectivity more accessible and offer more options to our passengers.”

Enrique Villasenor, SES vice-president of global airline partnerships, said: “Abra Group’s commitment to passenger experience will now include consistent reliable, multi-orbit satellite connectivity on its Airbus and Boeing fleet that provides the same fast and dependable internet access passengers enjoy at home no matter where or when they fly.

“SES’s partnerships with growing Abra Group airlines like Avianca, GOL and Wamos Air highlight how carriers throughout the Americas are leading the way when it comes to advanced connectivity,” he added. “SES is the engine that powers inflight connectivity, a trusted partner that makes airline operations easier.”

SES has been in the aviation connectivity business for nearly 10 years, working with partners Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Collins Aviation to provide in-flight communications with a global footprint to and from the SES-14 and SES-15 high-throughput satellites.

The HTS assets provide global coverage and enable Ku-band connectivity services using flexible spot-beam technology. Combined with its O3b MEO constellation, SES says its GEO HTS satellites deliver the industry’s only multi-orbit, multi-band offering that provides “unprecedented” network resiliency and intelligent, application-aware load balancing.