Emirates' Patrick Brannelly talks frictionless and free IFC
This is a special feature from the AIME Dubai 2025 issue of PAX Tech, on page 10.
Emirates is working toward frictionless connectivity where passengers can be automatically logged onto the Wi-Fi upon boarding
Emirates has long been a leader industry, with Patrick Brannelly, SVP IFE & Connectivity, Emirates, telling PAX Tech, “We installed connectivity across the fleet very early on, which, if you’re the first one to go, you end up having the oldest infrastructure in an industry that evolves very quickly. But we are now embarking on a total retrofit of our fleet, including connectivity to bring that up to the best in class again.”
In May 2023, Emirates reported that 10 percent of its passengers were using complimentary onboard Wi-Fi. According to Brannelly, passenger usage of IFC services is steadily increasing with 76 percent of inflight Wi-Fi sessions now free.
“Free is the future and it is what people expect,” he says of the evolving passenger demand.
The connection to loyalty
Patrick Brannelly, SVP IFE & Connectivity, Emirates (left) and Aijaz Khan, Publisher, PAX Tech , in Dubai
Brannelly says it is no surprise that more passengers are connecting to inflight Wi-Fi on Emirates’ flights from the Americas versus Europe and Africa because they are longer flights. But while there is a correlation between length of flight and the percentage of connected passengers, he says Emirates has seen the biggest increase in connected passengers on short-haul flights.
“It’s still low, but in terms of percentage, it has grown more than anything,” Brannelly explains. “I think this will be the future when everybody just naturally connects seamlessly and stays connected.”
Emirates is pushing for this level of frictionless connectivity where passengers can be automatically logged onto the Wi-Fi upon boarding the aircraft. Brannelly likens it to the experience of walking into a shopping mall or hotel where the device remembers the network. He notes that while passenger loyalty is a complicated subject, it is certain that if an airline does not offer reliable, quality service, they will see passenger loyalty diminish.
A future with LEO and GEO
When it comes to imagining the future of the connected aircraft, Brannelly says it is impossible to accurately predict in such a rapidly evolving landscape.
“In 10 years, it could be that people are fed up with being connected all the time and you see decline,” Brannelly muses. “You can’t really tell what the trend will be.”
While he says being unable to predict trends could lead to risk for airlines investing hundreds of millions of dollars into IFC, he assures it is just as big of a risk not to spend the money and have the technology available to passengers.
As such, Brannelly explains he expects to see a combination of LEO and GEO satellite options to meet the evolving demands of airlines and passengers.
“LEO satellites have many benefits, GEO satellites have many benefits, and to say the future is going to be purely LEO or purely GEO is probably too simplistic,” he says. “I think that the future will be antennas that work with both and can switch between the two and geographically some areas will be covered only by GEO and others by LEO.”
