Panasonic breaks into business aviation market
Flight Daily News  - source

Panasonic Avionics has entered the business aviation sector by offering its new Global Communications Suite (GCS) on over a dozen types of VIP aircraft.

The company is now offering GCS, which provides a combination of in-flight broadband, mobile telephone and live television solutions, on business aircraft. Panasonic vice-president global communication services David Bruner says it has already secured contracts from three business aircraft customers covering 14 VIP aircraft types.

The first installation is planned for next month on a Boeing BBJ with most of the other aircraft 13 types to follow over the next 18-24 months.

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Live from Orlando, Florida USA. Here are some IFE headlines from one of the companies making the most news at the show.

Flight Display Systems Debuts New 6 Channel MP3 Player, CMS
from Aero-News Network - source

Flight Display Systems introduced a new MP3 player for in-flight entertainment systems on Tuesday. The 6-Genre Music Player provides up to 90 hours of music in one compact unit. Six independent memory cards each hold up to 15 hours of music. Each card can be programmed by the user for six different genres of music simultaneously broadcast throughout the cabin.

Retrofit company booming during a bust
from AOPA Online - source

Most companies that service the business jet industry are talking about what the economy has done to them in the past year, but one is talking about what it has done for them.

"As the economy turned down, our sales went up," said David Gray of Flight Display Systems located in Alpharetta, Ga. "We’ve put up a new building, and we are hiring engineers." Flight Display Systems is in the retrofit business, providing information and entertainment to passengers. It is a market appealing mostly to owners of larger jets, but the company also counts owners of Hawker Beechcraft King Airs and single-engine turboprops among its customers.

Flight Display enters cabin management arena
from Flight Daily News - source

Flight Display Systems (booth 4484) has marked here at NBAA its first foray into the cabin management system market with the introduction of the first cabin management system aimed solely at the retrofit market.

Speaking at the show, Jay Healey, Flight Display's vice-president of satellite systems, said the company has been a supplier of in-flight entertainment parts such as LCD screens and DVDs to the interiors industry, including widescreen TVs and DVD for a number of years and has built a network of around 500 dealers across the globe, many of which have been calling on the company to build a cabin management system.

"Our Select CMS system offers true high-definition video interfacing", he said "and is available for around a third less than rival systems provided by traditional CMS suppliers such as Rockwell Collins and Honeywell. Flight Display will focus its sales effort on the US market initially to eliminate any teething problems. We hope to begin selling the CMS to international markets in around three months", Healey added.

Flight Display unveils new cabin management retrofit
from Avionics International News - source

Flight Display Systems, the little guy in the cabin electronics business with a focus on the retrofit display market, is ready for the big time.

At a press conference here this morning at 10 a.m., Flight Display (Booth No. 4484) is to formally introduce its Select cabin management system (CMS) as a retrofit package. According to company president David Gray, aircraft manufacturers are already making inquiries about offering the system as optional equipment on new aircraft.

Gray said the Select system is specifically designed to interface with the company’s high-definition displays and source equipment, including its new Blu-ray player, as well as with source equipment of other manufacturers.

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Jet Aviation Basel claims athat 50% of their interior business comes from government customers. So what types of private jets do our world governments fly?

According to the FBOs that handled the incoming delegates for the G20 in London in April 2009:

• Argentina - Airbus A340
• Australia - Boeing Business Jet
• Brazil - Airbus A319
• Canada - Airbus A310
• China - Boeing 747
• Czech Republic - Airbus A319
• France - Airbus A319
• France - Dassault Falcon 900
• India - Boeing 747
• Indonesia - Airbus A330
• Italy - Airbus A319
• Germany - Airbus A310
• Japan - Boeing 747
• Mexico - Boeing 757
• Netherlands - Gulfstream IV
• Russia - Ilyushin IL-96*
• Saudi Arabia - Boeing 747-400
• Spain - Airbus A310
• South Africa - Boeing Business Jet
• Turkey - Airbus A319
• United States - Boeing 747 (Air Force One)

*Not confirmed if this was from Russia or just a Russian aircraft.

Originally compiled and published in ShowNews on May 12, 2009. Japan 747 photo source.

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What Power Looks Like by David Rothkopf for NEWSWEEK

The iconic symbol of superclass unity is the Gulfstream private jet. In fact, one way to measure the clout of an event is to count the private jets at the nearest airport. According to Gulfstream, Davos traditionally attracts more of its planes than any other gathering, drawing up to 10 percent of the 1,500 planes in service to Zurich airport. But this year's Olympics in Beijing will give it a run for its money...

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These photos of Continental Airline's cabin entertainment system were taken sometime in 2007. We believe they are still accurate. To submit new photos, email and write Continental IFE photos for Nick in the subject line.

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These photos of Air Canada's cabin entertainment system were taken sometime 2006. We believe they are still accurate. To submit new photos, email and write Air Canada IFE photos for Nick in the subject line.

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Not necessarily IFE news, but we can't pass up any opportunity to report on Google's awesome 767 retrofit project. This article drops a hint about work that American Airlines base in Kansas City did for Google founder's shell company, Blue City Holdings:

American Airlines says its Kansas City, Mo., aircraft overhaul base met its "Breakthrough Goal" of $150 million in value creation through productivity improvements, cost reductions and new revenue... It installed winglets on American's fleet of 757s and on aircraft for Blue City Holdings.

pre-winglet photo of N2767

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These photos of Emirates ICE cabin entertainment system were taken in Q3 2006. We believe they are still accurate.

To submit new photos, email me and write Emirates IFE photos for Nick in the subject line.

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If AirCell has its way, 2009 could be the big year of widespread in-flight internet adoption. Rivals Learn From Boeing's 'Connexion' by ANICK JESDANUN on Dec 23, 2007 covers the basics:

JetBlue's LiveTV subsidiary paid the Federal Communications Commission $7 million for wireless spectrum that one test JetBlue aircraft has been using since Dec. 11 to communicate with about 100 cell towers spread across the continental United States.

The 1-megahertz frequency band allows that aircraft to offer free e-mail and instant-messaging services on laptops and handheld devices through Yahoo Inc. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Aircell licensed a band three times the size of LiveTV's for $31 million and plans to offer broader Internet services, including Web surfing, for about $10 a flight — what Boeing had charged for the first hour. Pending regulatory approval, Aircell's first Internet-capable flight is expected on American in 2008, using 92 cell towers on the ground.

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Light on details, but heavy on industry wrap-up - this piece by Dawn Gilbertson in The Arizona Republic from December 23rd, 2007.

• US Airways hopes to broaden the movie menu in the not-too-distant future with a new fiber optic in-flight entertainment system in development with an undisclosed manufacturer. It plans to test the touch screen seat-back system on one plane as early as late spring.
• Delta Air Lines offers a new seat-back system on its transcontinental flights, including Phoenix to New York, that includes movies on demand, live television and HBO programming. It has aggressive plans to expand it to other routes.
• Virgin America, a San Francisco startup, offers a seat-back system called Red that includes more than 25 pay-per-view movies and satellite television. The airline calls it the most advanced entertainment system in the sky. New releases are $8.

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From the June 2007 issue of Aviation International News...

In the last 12 months, seven pre-owned BBJs have sold at an average price approximately 120 percent of the original price.

The first available slot for a new BBJ (any model) is mid-2011. The first available slot for an executive version of the 747-8 is in 2012, and the 787 is sold out through 2015.

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