Icelandair Partners With ViaSat Inc. for Transatlantic High-Speed Internet

Icelandair has announced that it will bring fast and powerful in-flight connectivity and Internet streaming service to transatlantic flights through a new partnership with global broadband services and technology company ViaSat Inc

To deliver Internet service at 35,000 feet, Icelandair will tap into ViaSat-2, billed as the most powerful, highest capacity satellite communications system at launch, and will leverage ViaSat's latest generation (Gen-2) in-flight Internet system. 

Icelandair will integrate ViaSat's in-flight Internet system across its fleet of 16 Boeing 737MAX aircraft through post-delivery modifications. ViaSat plans to deliver continuous, reliable high-speed connectivity from Icelandair's 18 North American gateways across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland and more than 25 destinations in Europe. By using ViaSat's Gen-2 equipment, which is optimized to take full advantage of the highly-anticipated massive amounts of capacity offered by the ViaSat-2 satellite, Icelandair can offer passengers fast and high quality in-flight Internet connections, as well as keep pace with the growing broadband demands of the fully connected aircraft.   

How it Works

The Internet connections are made possible by connecting passenger devices directly to ViaSat's ViaSat-2 Ka-band satellite network (over North America and the Atlantic Ocean), and then switching these passenger connections over to the European KA-SAT network, a high-capacity Ka-band satellite system part owned by ViaSat through its European joint venture with Eutelsat.

The installation of the ViaSat in-flight Internet equipment is expected to begin in March 2018 and continue through 2020. 

Visit www.viasat.com