Icelandair First European Airline to Offer Gate-To-Gate Wi-Fi
Quincy, MA, February 16, 2016 – Icelandair and Global Eagle Entertainment, (Nasdaq: ENT) (“GEE”) today announced the introduction of gate-to-gate Wi-Fi connectivity on the airline’s full fleet of aircraft. Passengers flying on Icelandair-operated flights between North America and Europe can now connect to the internet from jetway to jetway.
This airline milestone in Wi-Fi connectivity designates Icelandair as the first airline in both the European and North Atlantic markets to provide gate-to-gate connectivity.
Icelandair, with 43 destinations across Europe and North America on their fleet of Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, has been providing passengers with on-board Wi-Fi since the company launched connectivity systems three years ago with GEE, a worldwide provider of aircraft connectivity systems, operations solutions and media content to the travel industry. This new system now extends the passenger Wi-Fi experience beyond not just their time in the air, but from the moment they’re welcomed aboard, to pulling up to the gate at their final destination.
“This new service is a part of our strategy to offer our customers quality service, including Wi-Fi on all our routes. Our passengers can now use the continuous gate-to-gate connection to share their travel experiences on social media or remain connected to friends, family and colleagues throughout their travels. It’s important for us to be in the forefront at adapting and providing passengers great entertainment and connectivity, and the solutions provided by GEE make that possible”, says Helgi Már Björgvinsson, SVP Sales and Marketing, Icelandair.
“Global Eagle is the leading innovator in gate-to-gate services in the aviation industry and excited to partner with Icelandair to be the first to provide this service to Europe,” said Aditya Chatterjee, Senior Vice President of Connectivity Systems and Chief Technology Officer at GEE. “This important collaboration marks an important component of next generation inflight connectivity offerings that GEE is poised to deliver worldwide,”
Icelandair also uses GEE’s portal-based on-demand service for a broad range of in-flight entertainment content, including movies, music and games aimed at elevating the Icelandair passenger experience. The gate-to-gate service will enable Icelandair and GEE to optimize the infrastructure to provide a superior Wi-Fi experience for their passengers.
About Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE)
Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: ENT) is a worldwide provider of aircraft connectivity systems, operations solutions and media content to the travel industry. Through the industry’s most comprehensive product and services platform, Global Eagle Entertainment provides airlines with a wide range of in-flight solutions. These include Wi-Fi, movies, television, music, interactive software, as well as portable IFE solutions, content management services, e-commerce solutions and original content development. Serving more than 200 airlines worldwide, Global Eagle Entertainment delivers exceptional quality and value to its customers to help them achieve their passenger experience objectives. The company’s headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California, with offices and teams located in North America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Oceania and South America. Find out more at: www.geemedia.com.
Icelandair offers service to Iceland from Boston, Chicago-ORD, Denver, Edmonton, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Newark, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.; and seasonal service from Anchorage, Halifax, Montreal, Orlando, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, BC. Connections through Icelandair’s hub at Keflavik International Airport are available to more than 20 destinations in Scandinavia, the U.K. and Continental Europe. Only Icelandair allows passengers to take an Icelandair Stopover for up to seven nights at no additional airfare. For additional information about Icelandair’s fares to Iceland & beyond, please visit us at www.icelandair.com.