Qatar Airways is accelerating its inflight entertainment and connectivity capabilities through two new aftermarket developments. The airline recently announced that it is ramping up installations of Starlink high-speed internet on its Boeing 777 fleet, and it is now planning an inflight entertainment maintenance hub in Doha.
On Feb. 25, Qatar Airways announced that it has equipped more than 50% of its 777 fleet with Starlink, completing installation on its 30th aircraft. Since beginning the retrofit project last year and launching what it says was the world’s first Starlink-enabled 777 flight in October, the airline has significantly shortened its expected installation timeline. According to Qatar Airways, it has cut installation time per aircraft from 2-3 days to 9.5 hr., reducing the timeline by nearly three-quarters.
The installations are being performed from the airline’s Qatar Airways Technic MRO facility at Doha Hamad International Airport. To avoid operational impacts, Qatar Airways is timing installations to fit within 12-hr. overnight timeframes.
Qatar Airways told Aviation Week Network that it is performing installations on 55 777s, excluding its seven 777-200LRs. The airline has not yet responded to Aviation Week’s inquiry about when it expects to finish the 777 installations. However, Qatar Airways has stated it will begin installations on its Airbus A350 fleet, including 58 A350-900s/-1000s, this summer.
Beyond Starlink, Qatar Airways is also advancing plans to support the Thales inflight entertainment (IFE) equipment installed on its fleet. On Feb. 24, the airline signed a memorandum of understanding with Thales to establish a dedicated IFE service and maintenance center in Doha that will provide quick access to services such as repair, spares, distribution, technical assistance and line maintenance for Thales’ full range of IFE products.
Thales’ IFE equipment is on several aircraft types in Qatar Airways’ fleet, including its Boeing 787-8s and Airbus A350s and A380s. The airline’s new A321 NX fleet will also be equipped with Thales’ FlytEDGE cloud-native IFE platform.
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