Kontron A320 WiFi System Approved for Flight on Spring Airlines in China

STC and VSTC Received in Conjunction with Operation Partner Fair Link Century

Augsburg, Germany, September 23, 2015 – Kontron, a global market leader for embedded computing technology (ECT), today announced the launch of the first inflight WiFi distribution system on Spring Airlines’ A320 aircraft in China. As a result of Kontron’s successful collaboration with its strategic partner, Fair Link Century, the cabin WiFi system offers passengers streaming HD video content as well as the ability to enjoy music, games, news and cabin online chat during the flight.  With the support of Fair Link, Kontron obtained airworthiness approvals including FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) and a Validated STC (VSTC) from the CAAC (Civil Aviation Authority of China).
 
With this successful deployment of both system platform design and application engagement, Spring Airlines has officially incorporated the cabin WiFi distribution feature into their regular flight service. Positive feedback has been received from the pilot trial flights, and the second aircraft installation has been planned by the team for October 2015.
 
Kontron is the global leader supplying airborne file servers, wireless access points and communication units to the rapidly growing Inflight Entertainment & Connectivity (IFE&C) market. Every day, more than 3,000 commercial aircraft and business jets are flying with Kontron’s equipment onboard.
 
Fair Link Century is an innovative supplier of IFE&C operating software, media content and cabin application services in the Chinese avionics market. With offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, Fair Link is well positioned to address various practical application needs from airlines and passengers. In addition to Kontron, Fair Link maintains a solid partnership with major Chinese content providers, advertisers and internet companies that offering rich cabin entertainment options.
 
The solution provided by Kontron for this project consists of the complete set of hardware that deploys an 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi environment in the A320 cabin and also supports complementary services such as Video-On-Demand. Deployed hardware includes Kontron’s ACE Flight 4600 Airborne Server, Cab-n-Connect A100 Cabin Wireless Access Point (CWAP), System Control Panel and installation kit. Kontron is also responsible for obtaining and maintaining the system airworthiness approvals from the FAA and CAAC.
 
Fair Link developed a unique software platform to address applications requirements for both passenger and cabin crew. Chinese video content and other entertainment options are also embedded specifically for market orientation purposes.
 
“The A320 STC is a significant step forward in Kontron’s strategy to offer open architecture system solutions to the global aviation market”, said Andy Mason, Vice President Avionics Systems and Program Management for Kontron. “A key component to our strategy is partnerships with innovative companies such as Fair Link, who provide the application software solution pre-validated on the Kontron hardware system as well as the local content that is unique to the Chinese market.”
 
“The growth of the aviation market in China represents a significant opportunity for Kontron and we have positioned ourselves accordingly over the past three years,” said Xiaowei Peng, General Manager of Kontron China. “With the opening of the new Kontron China headquarters in Beijing, we have anticipated the state-of-the-art manufacturing and support capabilities that the market will require.”
 
“Based on Kontron’s past performance and excellent roadmap of avionics products, Fair Link decided to establish a cooperation agreement with them almost three years ago. Now after this successful collaboration, we have deployed a fully-functional cabin WiFi system on Spring Airlines.  And we anticipate that an extended production schedule is coming soon,” said Rongsen Wang, Fair Link Century Technical Director.  “We know our success results from state-of-the-art products, a diligent team and reliable cooperation with partners.”
 
“The current solution is just the first step in our business operation and relationship between Spring Airlines and Fair Link. With a successful VIP flight on Spring Airlines in July, and positive feedback from the passenger service, we are now working on plans for a connectivity prototype. Whether based on Ku Band or Ka Band technology, we plan to roll out our advanced solutions to our local airline partners. We expect that thousands of aircraft will be installed with Fair Link and Kontron’s fully-functional and automatic solutions in the next three to five years,” said Changwen Yuan, Fair Link Century President.
 
Leading the development of cabin distribution system, Kontron and Fair Link are working globally on the new generation design using cutting edge technologies such as 802.11ac and 4G LTE ground connectivity. Kontron’s ACE Flight 4600 and Cab-n-Connect A100 will be showcased at the APEX EXPO 2015 show in Portland, Oregon September 28 - October 1.
 
 
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About Kontron
Kontron, a global leader in embedded computing technology and trusted advisor in IoT, works closely with its customers, allowing them to focus on their core competencies by offering a complete and integrated portfolio of hardware, software and services designed to help them make the most of their applications.
With a significant percentage of employees in research and development, Kontron creates many of the standards that drive the world’s embedded computing platforms; bringing to life numerous technologies and applications that touch millions of lives. The result is an accelerated time-to-market, reduced total-cost-of-ownership, product longevity and the best possible overall application with leading-edge, highest reliability embedded technology.             
Kontron is a listed company. Its shares are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on other exchanges under the symbol “KBC”.
For more information, please visit: www.kontron.com