APEX Editor's Blog

Gogo is one step closer to bringing Ku-band satellite-supported inflight Wi-Fi to Delta Air Lines and other customers after receiving a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate Ku-band terminals on domestic and international flights, the APEX editor’s blog can reveal. The Chicago-headquartered company, which has been gearing up to launch Ku-band connectivity [...]

Sony is concerned that some companies that duplicate and distribute 8mm and Hi8mm video tapes for inflight program use may be employing previously used Video8 and Hi8 8mm tape, and is recommending that only new and unused cassettes be used. In a letter to stakeholders, obtained by the APEX editor’s blog, the company says its [...]

Ready or not, Google Glass is here, and it represents what may be the next frontier of mobile computing. Passengers already have multiple screens to distract them while in-flight, from their smartphone, to their iPad, and now a screen literally in front of their eyes. Is the airline industry ready for this new generation of inflight [...]

Hot on the heels of inking a deal to buy end-to-end IFE content management and technical services firm Post Modern Group, Global Eagle Entertainment is letting the world know that further acquisitions in the IFE space are in the cards for the company as it looks to lead consolidation in the industry. Speaking to the APEX [...]

Ninety-nine percent of adult airline passengers who travel with a portable electronic device (PED) – such as a smartphone or tablet – carried at least one PED onboard with them while traveling in the past 12 months, with seven in ten (69 percent) reporting they used their devices during flight, according to a new joint [...]

Airline managers are becoming much more rational and disciplined when it comes to capacity, according to International Airlines Group (IAG) chief executive Willie Walsh, who also notes that his group has no further acquisition plans in the short to medium term following its recent takeover of Spanish carrier Vueling. Walsh made the comments during a [...]

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution fades into China’s history, the current connectivity revolution is helping to accelerate this incredible country’s extraordinary commercial development. The pace of this transformation is breathtaking, with the number of internet users in China almost quadrupling since 2006, soaring to over 564 million users by the end of 2012. Moreover, China’s [...]

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a colourful way of describing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). “NextGen is the transformation of how airplanes traverse the sky,” says the agency, and represents “a new era of flight”. But creating a new era of flight, which entails transitioning from a decades old ground-based system [...]

People with reduced mobility (PRMs) are accustomed to filling out complicated forms to inform airlines of their needs in advance of flying so that they can be assisted through the airport and onto their aircraft. Many are put off travelling altogether because of the lack of consistency and communication between the airline and the airport, which sometimes [...]

There are plenty of tales lamenting the race to the bottom in amenities and service for passengers in the United States. But that is not the entire story. Indeed, there are some markets where competition amongst carriers is working to increase the options available to travellers. Not only are there more choices now in these [...]