Inflight Internet Back on Lufthansa

Last Tuesday, Nov. 30, Lufthansa brought back its in-flight Internet offering, inaugurating the service on an Airbus A330-300.

The aircraft operated the LH 400 service from Frankfurt to New York. Initially, passengers will have access to broadband Internet on some of the airline’s North Atlantic routes. Availability will be expanded to cover the entire long-haul fleet and its network by the end of 2011. Lufthansa is also looking at including its short-haul fleet at a later stage.

Lufthansa was the launch operator of the Connexxion by Boeing service in 2004. Boeing decided to shut down the unit in 2006, leaving Lufthansa without a system provider and operator.

In its new FlyNet service, Lufthansa cooperates with Panasonic and Deutsche Telekom, but it uses the old antennas that were installed on the aircraft in 2006. The airline hopes that it will be able to outfit its eight Airbus A380s with dual antennas that are also bigger and lighter than the existing equipment. The antennas are expected to provide better coverage for flights in the extreme North and close to the equator, where the single unit reaches its technical limits. As for the incoming Boeing 747-8 fleet, Lufthansa hopes that the second airplane will be equipped with the new antenna, too.

The use of mobile phones, smart phones or PDAs, but only for text messages, such as SMS or email will also be allowed by Lufthansa. The airline says its research has shown that customers value quietness in the cabin, so voice communications will be blocked during flight.

Passengers have to buy access to the service. One hour will cost €10.95 while 24 hours will be €19.95. The access will also be valid on connecting flights used within the 24-hour timeframe.

According to Christian Koerfgen, VP-product management and innovations, a total of five aircraft will be available initially. He claims that Internet access will be as fast as on the ground. Laptops have to be WLAN enabled and log on to the Telekom hotspots. Panasonic is in charge of the system technology. Lufthansa participates in the revenues generated.

CEO of Panasonic Avionics Corp. Paul Margis says that “new modems allow us to start with smaller bandwidths” and that “we can add satellite capacity when we need it.” The old Boeing system failed mainly because the provider rented too much unused satellite capacity, which made the system uneconomical. According to Margis, other applications could be added to the offering, specifically as far as electronic flight bag use or inflight entertainment options are concerned.

 

-aviationweek.com

 

Airbus: Demand for A380s will rise in Latin America

According to Rafael Alonso, senior vice president for Airbus Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin America has a potential demand for up to 20 aircraft the size of the A380.

Speaking during a press conference at the 2010 ALTA leadership forum, Alonso says that with European carriers Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways introducing the superjumbo to their fleets there is “a strong likelihood that the A380 will be seen in the region soon”.

They are expecting to lead the region’s market share within the next two to three years. “We already have around 42% of the total market and would expect to have 52% in the next three years. If you look at the past five years we have consistently had more than 60% of the orders compared to Boeing.”

Airbus sees a total demand for almost 1,700 aircraft in the region over the next 20 years with a value of $163 billion.

These include 1,340 single aisle aircraft, 323 wide-bodies and 20 of the large cabins such as the A380.

- flightglobal

Qantas grounds A380s after landing incident

Qantas, an Australian Airline has grounded its six-strong fleet of Airbus A380 airliners after one of the planes made an emergency landing in Singapore, Thursday.

The pilots of the afflicted Qantas aircraft flew it for well more than an hour after the event to burn off fuel for their return to Singapore. The event itself was initiated with a loud bang followed by “a little bit of fire, one passenger stated. Many others on board the aircraft felt it physically shudder. Passenger accounts state that the pilots kept passengers informed with regular updates after the event and there was calm in the cabin.

French experts blamed “a fault on the rear part of the jet motor” for “serious damage” that blew a hole in the wing of a Qantas A380 out of Singapore for Sydney and caused it to return (safely) to its point of departure.

Speaking for France’s air investigative agency, BEA, Jean-Paul Troadec called the event “a serious incident,” that led to “serious damage.”

“It’s a significant engine failure,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said at a news conference.

“We do take our safety reputation and our safety standards unbelievably seriously. And we’re not going to take any risks with passenger safety – and as a precaution, we’re suspending the flights of the A380 aircraft until we’re comfortable that we understand the reasons for this.”

No-one was injured during the incident, which ended at Singapore’s Changi airport.

Air France, Lufthansa, the Emirates airline and Singapore Airlines initially said they will continue flying the jet, although Singapore later changed its mind and grounded its fleet of 11 A380s.

“Singapore Airlines will be delaying all flights operating our A380 aircraft,” spokesman Nicholas Ionides said.

Passengers aboard the superjumbo were interviewed. Watch video here:

- bbc.co.uk
- AV web

48 Aircraft Orders for Lufthansa

An Order for 48 aircraft with Airbus and Embraer that are going to be operated by the mainline carrier and subsidiaries has been placed by the Lufthansa group.

The order consists of eight Airbus A330-300s, 32 A320 family aircraft and eight Embraer 195s. Three A330s are allocated to Lufthansa, while five will be operated by Swiss International Air Lines. Lufthansa will also get 20 more A320 family aircraft, Swiss will take two more A320s and two A321s. The eight Embraer 195s are going to be operated by one of the regional subsidiaries. Low fare unit Germanwings will receive eight more A319s. Deliveries will start in 2012, Lufthansa said in a statement.

Lufthansa will partly use the aircraft for replacement. The mainline carrier has to phase out older A320s and Boeing 737s. The oldest 737 is now 24 years old and the youngest 15 with a large part of the fleet having been delivered around 1990/91. The oldest A320s are 21 years old. According to CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber, the airline will also look at growth opportunities, but wants to remain flexible in case the market deteriorates.

One of the significant aspects of the deal is who does not get new aircraft: Austrian Airlines. The carrier cannot grow capacity as a part of the European Commission approval of the 2009 takeover by Lufthansa in which the Austrian government assumed €500 million ($656.8 million) of Austrian’s debt. It has also been told by the parent company that it needs to be profitable before it will receive new aircraft. The regulatory restrictions expire in 2012.

-aviationweek.com