February 1 2022  |  Connectivity & Satellites

​IFC installs pick up in third quarter of 2021

By Rick Lundstrom

Industry watcher Valour Consultancy reported today that 120 aircraft were installed with inflight connectivity in the third quarter of last year, bringing the worldwide IFC fleet to just below 9,300.

The pace of installation is certainly picking up as the company said new IFC installs had fallen below 100 per quarter in 2020

Valour Consultancy reported that nearly 60 percent of the installations in the the third quarter of 2021 occurred on aircraft originating out of the North America region. North America is clearly the largest market for IFC with almost two-thirds of the commercial active fleet connected.

Data from Valour’s partner CH.Aviation shows 10 percent of connected aircraft in North America were classified as grounded at the end of the third quarter of 2021, a figure which had peaked at around 40 percent in the early stages of the pandemic. Elsewhere, the partners estimate approximately 28 percent of aircraft with an active IFC service in Europe remained grounded at the end of the third quarter of last year.

In both the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the proportion of connected aircraft still grounded stands at 30 percent. Continued border restrictions are hindering the recovery of long-haul travel and in turn, the rate at which airlines can bring widebody aircraft out of long-term storage.

“Why does this matter?” said a report from Valour. “Put simply, inactive aircraft aren’t generating revenue; for the airline, and in most cases, the IFC service provider too. Most service providers have some exposure to the turnkey or revenue share model which relies on aircraft being in the air to generate revenue.”

Valour’s inflight connectivity tracker can be found here.

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