‘In talks with AI & IndiGo for onboard WiFi:’ Intelsat VP John Happ

NEW DELHI: Leading satellite services provider Intelsat is in talks with Air India and IndiGo to roll out inflight connectivity (IFC). As of now, Vistara Boeing 787s and Airbus A321 neos are the only aircraft of any Indian carrier to have onboard WiFi. But this is going to change soon.
While AI has spoken of rolling out the same on any of its planes, now IndiGo is also in talks for IFC.From next year, IndiGo will launch medium-haul flights and go long-haul in 2027. AI has been flying all across the globe for decades. On long flights, IFC is now becoming a mandatory offering for any airline that has global ambitions.
John Happ, Intelsat VP (commercial aviation), told TOI: “Over the last 12 months in particular, my job has been very focused on the Indian market. There's virtually no penetration from an IFC standpoint (among) Indian carriers. That's actually the good news in terms of the opportunity size. It’s an enormous aero market, given the mega orders by AI and IndiGo. From an airline and passenger standpoint, the future has finally arrived.”
Two years back Intelsat had launched its inflight connectivity services in Indian skies through an
agreement with Tata Group’s Nelco, India’s leading satellite communication service provider. Intelsat is one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and a leading provider of IFC.
Happ said airlines are doing the math for the return on investment on IFC to go through steps of justification.
Installing IFC on an aircraft already in the fleet costs about $3,00,000 on average. “The biggest opportunity is the domestic market, the narrow body fleet. IFC as part of onboard product from a competitive standpoint just from the point of view of passenger satisfaction is required to be competitive on the world stage, let alone the Indian market itself. There is no option (but to provide it) on long hauls”.
Most big airlines flying in and out of India provide IFE. They have made onboard WiFi a revenue stream with passengers buying data packs or getting it for free in business and first class.
“The good news from our point of view is that (big) Indian carriers are at the point of making decisions. They are in that mode. They will provide IFE, by us and the competition. It’s going to be a combination (of service providers),” he said, adding, “We have finally reached an inflection point in the IFC industry. This is true globally and not just in India. India has the greatest upside because there's so little penetration.”
Apart from providing on existing aircraft, the hardware for IFC could be something that airlines buy for their planes from plane-makers in the future. “The retrofit opportunities are in the range of about $3,00,000 per plane. The other grouping would involve equipment that's bought via Boeing and more notably Airbus.
Airbus is actually selling that equipment. And the service provider would be Intelsat or someone else. Most of the time we would be. Intelsat is the largest player in this field,” he said, adding, “We have about 3,000 installed aircraft with our inflight connectivity systems. That’s about 25 airlines commercial airlines.”