Editor’s Note: Our Via Satellite team was on the ground in Hamburg for Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX), April 14-16, the industry’s premier gathering for cabin innovation, connectivity, and passenger experience. There’s no substitute for being there in person. The two stories that follow reflect that vantage point: firsthand reporting that captures not only what’s announced, but what it actually means for the market and what’s coming next. — John Persinos, editor-in-chief, Aircraft Value Intelligence.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Australian airline Jetstar Airway’s fleet. (Photo: Jetstar Airways)
Australian low-cost airline Jetstar Airways has selected Viasat’s Amara solution for in-flight connectivity on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The Amara system will be installed across 11 Jetstar aircraft, according to an April 15 announcement.
Viasat reported that installation has already begun and initial aircraft entered service earlier this month. Full fleet installations will continue through to mid-2027.
Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas, which also works with Viasat for IFC. Jetstar is going through a refurbishment of its Dreamliner fleet in a multi-million dollar cabin refit. The IFC upgrade is part of that refurbishment.
According to JetStar, the onboard Wi-Fi supports streaming, messaging, browsing, and everyday internet use and is complimentary for business class customers and available for purchase for economy customers.
“We’ve invested heavily in this fleet because we believe our customers deserve access to more low fares on longer international routes, and these refurbished aircraft are how we deliver that. Doubling our business cabin means more people than ever can takeoff in style for less and installing Wi-Fi capability [means] customers can remain fully connected in the air,” Jetstar Group CEO Stephanie Tully said in a recent statement about the Dreamliner refresh.
Viasat Amara, introduced last year, is a multi-network, multi-orbit connectivity platform, which includes ViaSat-3 capacity and will include Telesat Lightspeed when the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation is deployed.