SkyFive has teamed up with maintenance, repair and overhaul giant Lufthansa Technik (LHT) to hasten its ability to bring air-to-ground (A2G) broadband inflight connectivity to commercial airlines around the world.
Under a new framework contract, Lufthansa Technik will design, certify and manufacture installation kits for SkyFive’s A2G IFC solution, providing airlines with what both parties assure will be a “quick and easy upgrade” of their narrowbody fleets.
“LHT does complete nose-to-tail designs and certifications, including the connectivity equipment, the cabin network system, and the corresponding installation kits,” Dirk Lindemeier, CCO of SkyFive, explains to Runway Girl Network.
But if airlines want an all-in package, inclusive of installation, LHT as a MRO behemoth is well positioned to facilitate such work. “In their capacity as an MRO, and at airline discretion, LHT could also perform the actual installations on one of their many bases worldwide,” Lindemeier confirms.
The agreement does not give LHT a financial stake in SkyFive. “We are fully funded and hence not looking for any investments,” notes Lindemeier. Rather, he says, “the agreement is about the cooperation of SkyFive and LHT and serves the purpose of further ramping up our delivery capability.”
The two firms are generally targeting narrowbodies including Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family aircraft, but are also looking to bring A2G to regional jets and turboprops.
“Efficient inflight connectivity is among the top desires of airline passengers nowadays. Hence, the necessity for reliable and fast, but also easy-to-install connectivity solutions is growing steadily,” says Andrew Muirhead, Lufthansa Technik’s vice president OEM and Engineering Services.
“We are thus happy to support SkyFive to meet the soaring demand. With our renowned expertise in Supplemental Type Certification for connectivity installations, we are able to provide our valued partner a fast time-to-market. With proven solutions for both satellite and A2G connectivity, we can bring almost any commercial aircraft cabin online now.”
A German firm, SkyFive acquired Nokia’s air-to-ground assets in 2019, after Nokia served as a key technology partner on the European Aviation Network (EAN), the hybrid air-to-ground/S-band satellite network operated by Viasat (formerly Inmarsat) and Deutsche Telekom. SkyFive still supports the EAN, but it has commercialized its own air-to-ground IFC product, A2G, for airlines elsewhere including in the Middle East.
Its arrangement with Lufthansa Technik comes on the back of two important developments in the market. Several Lufthansa Group airlines are now fitting narrowbody aircraft with EAN inflight connectivity hardware. And SkyFive recently forged an agreement with Viasat that will enable aircraft fitted with the EAN solution in Europe to roam into SkyFive’s ATG networks in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and vice versa.
“[S]everal airlines have been asking for this, in fact already since late 2022, when we first announced coming to the Middle East. The implementation is well underway, and we expect roaming to get activated during 2025,” Lindemeier reveals to RGN.
In terms of passenger experience, RGN readers are curious how SkyFive’s low-latency A2G stacks up against low-latency Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satcom solutions. And so we put the question to Lindemeier.
“Given that the A2G network is 100% dedicated to aircraft, hence aircraft do not compete for capacity with other users on the ground, the experience is very consistent and underpinned with real SLAs,” he says. “Moreover, the A2G system is open and can be integrated with other cabin networks and wireless entertainment systems, thus allowing airlines to create a single coherent digital experience.”
In contrast, initial implementations of SpaceX’s Starlink LEO service, for instance, appear to take a different approach, if a dedicated portal is still desired by the airline. “According to our understanding you do not have that at least with Starlink, which is an entirely closed system, and which in the case of Hawaiian results in two independent Wi-Fi networks onboard — one takes you to the airline portal, the other takes you to the Internet.”
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All images credited to Lufthansa Technik
