Delta Airlines has announced it will continue to expand its wifi offering on international flights with a partnership with GoGo.
The new announcement sees the airline commit to 2Ku, Gogo’s new
in-flight Wi-Fi technology, for a further 350 aircraft. Delta says that
this will mean it will have a total total 2Ku commitment to more than
600 aircraft in its mainline fleet.
Gogo says that 2Ku is next-generation technology that provides
consistent, uninterrupted coverage nearly anywhere in the world,
including over oceans. Installation of 2Ku will offer customers faster
speeds and bandwidth more than 20 times that of Gogo’s ATG technology,
allowing for video streaming functionality.
In addition, from summer 2016, customers will be able to use Wi-Fi
and in-flight entertainment from taxi and takeoff through landing on
2Ku-enabled aircraft. In late 2016, Delta will launch IPTV, giving
customers the ability to watch live TV from their own devices on
2Ku-enabled aircraft.
2Ku installation has already started on Delta’s Boeing 737-800 and
Airbus A319 fleets, and additional fleets will be retrofitted with the
new system. By the end of 2016, Delta will operate more than 35 aircraft
with 2Ku, which offers reduced drag and fuel burn compared to other
Wi-Fi systems. 2Ku is next-generation technology that uses dual Ku-band
satellite antennas – one receiver for the upward link to the aircraft,
and the other for the downward, return link to the ground.
Delta has completed installation of Ku-band satellite Wi-Fi on nearly
all of its wide-body international fleet – including Boeing 747, 767,
777 and Airbus A330 aircraft as well as Boeing 757 aircraft operating on
long-haul routes – and will be 100 percent complete by September 2016.
2Ku service will be offered on Airbus A330-900Neo and A350-900 aircraft
when they enter Delta’s fleet in 2019 and 2017, respectively.
Delta now operates the world's largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet, with
more than 1,000 Delta aircraft, including nearly all Delta Connection
two-class regional jets and 99 percent of its long-haul international
fleet equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service.
