China Eastern hits connectivity speed milestone
Panasonic Avionics Corporation, China Eastern Airlines, APT Mobile SatCom Limited, and China Telecom Satellite Communications announced today new performance milestone for in-flight connectivity service over China, using Panasonic Avionics’ new Extreme Throughput Satellite (XTS) service on the APStar 6D communications satellite.
On China Eastern Airlines’ flight MU5105 from Shanghai to Beijing, passengers saw average speeds up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to the aircraft, with peak speeds reaching 200 Mbps, says Panasonic in today’s announcement. As a result, passengers were able to stream video, engage in video conferencing, download large files, and browse the internet on multiple devices.
The benchmarks were made possible by the APStar 6D satellite technology jointly designed by Panasonic Avionics and APSATCOM. The aircraft used had previously been equipped with in-flight connectivity hardware from Panasonic Avionics and no changes or upgrades to the existing antenna, wireless access points, satellite modem, or other critical component were required.
“This is indeed an exciting achievement for Panasonic Avionics. The data that we saw from flight MU5105 underscores our commitment to being the leader in connectivity to airlines in China, across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, and around the world,” said Ron Ho, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific of Panasonic Avionics.
Panasonic Avionics’ global satellite network covers over 99 percent of all flight routes. It supports the provision of services such as high-speed internet, video streaming, VoIP applications, HD video, live television, phone services, and even dedicated bandwidth for crew applications. Ch
