Emirates awards Airbus new commitment to retrofit 60 A380s with Airspace Link HBCplus connectivity solution

• This latest order complements Emirates’ earlier HBCplus launch order for 50 A350s – bringing the airline’s total HBCplus commitments to 110 aircraft shipsets.
• Airbus revealed additional HBCplus airline selections during the Dubai Airshow from Air Algerie and Air India to equip five A330neos and six A350s respectively.

Dubai Airshow, 15th November 2023 – Emirates has awarded Airbus a commitment for the retrofit of 60 A380s with its Airspace Link HBCplus connectivity solution. Emirates, the biggest customer to date of this technology, was the original launch customer when it selected HBCplus to equip 50 A350s – revealed at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in June this year. The latest order announced during the Dubai Airshow now raises Emirates’ total HBCplus commitment to 110 shipsets.

Additional airline HBCplus endorsements revealed during Dubai Airshow…

Airbus is also delighted to reveal further HBCplus endorsements during the Dubai Airshow from Air Algerie for five Widebody A330neos and from Air India for six A350s respectively – for linefit installation with these carriers.

With these firm orders for HBCplus, and also Ethiopian Airlines’ selection announced during AIX to equip four A350s, the total number of committed shipset installations now covers 125 aircraft across three aircraft families.

For the HBCplus selections to date, Viasat is the chosen managed service provider (MSP) and Safran Passenger Innovations is Airbus’ supplier and integrator of the terminal and Thinkom’s Ka-band antenna hardware.

Further HBCplus selections, for more than 120 shipsets, are also at an advanced stage of preparation with various airline customers across Airbus’ Widebody and Single-Aisle Families. These will be confirmed in due course.

André Schneider, Airbus VP Cabin & Cargo Programme said: “We are honoured that Airbus’ HBCplus launch customer Emirates has reaffirmed its confidence by selecting the technology for its flagship A380 fleet. Together with our partners Viasat and Safran Passenger Innovations, we are also thrilled that more airlines, now also including Air Algerie and Air India, have chosen to equip HBCplus across their Airbus fleets to keep their travellers connected with lightning-fast internet.”

He adds: “Seeing our valued customers committing to our reliable satellite connectivity model, while combining a flexible choice of network providers and seamless hardware integration, is a real testimony to our Airspace Link philosophy.”

With the HBCplus customer base and product offering growing, Airbus builds the foundation of its open ecosystem Airspace Link. The platform helps to open up the interdependence of hardware with its accompanying software service.

Today Airbus’ HBCplus offer for airlines encompasses Ka-band geostationary orbit (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO), using SPI’s integrated terminal modem with Thinkom Solutions’ antenna, together with Viasat and SES as the selected MSPs. Moreover, following recent agreements with Safran Passenger Innovations (SPI) and with Intelsat and Panasonic Avionics MSPs, Airbus will also offer Ku-band multi-orbit HBCplus services in the future.