Azul Airlines is expanding its in-flight Wi-Fi program to longer routes as it expands its partnership with Viasat to add the service to its A330neo aircraft.
For now, the new service will only be available on the airline’s new A330-900s, which will have the system installed at the factory — seven of which have been ordered from Airbus — with the first delivery of the ViaSat kit due in 2025.
From Brazilians’ thirst for real-time sports scores to their desire to stay in touch with loved ones on the ground while flying, our hypothesis that this feature is essential to customer satisfaction is coming true in the market. – Jason Ward, Chief People and Customer Officer, Azul Airlines
The airline introduced in-flight internet on its single-aisle aircraft in 2021. The service is free for passengers. But on A330neo aircraft, passengers “will be able to purchase packages for audio and video streaming, web browsing and messaging,” the companies said. This means that at least some services will require a fee rather than be free for travelers. At the time of publication, inquiries to Azul were pending.
The companies also announced the rollout of options for ad-supported access to streaming sessions, powered by the Viasat advertising platform. Viasat handles ad sales and targeting for the network, allowing for a variety of offerings, including different performance tiers and time-based sessions.
Viasat said the service is supported in part by Telebras’ SGDC (Geostationary Satellite for Defense and Strategic Communications) Ka-band satellite, which Viasat also uses for its terrestrial hotspot services in the Brazilian market. But serving the A330neo fleet requires greater Ka-band coverage than SGDC can provide.
The service could theoretically be provided by the ViaSat-3 F1 satellite, but a faulty antenna has limited its geographic coverage. Viasat recently applied to add the SES-17 satellite to its operating license, which could fill an intercontinental gap in Viasat’s coverage footprint and provide the coverage and capacity needed to operate the Azul A330neo.
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