Panasonic eyes doubling of airline Wi-Fi installation to meet demand

April 16, 2015 creative accessed-on-pcs, aircraft, berlin, carol-bartz, europe, global-eagle, keen-on-access, keep-passengers, microsoft, norwegian, online, steve-ballmer, victoria-bryan, yahoo

By Victoria Bryan HAMBURG (Reuters) – Panasonic Avionics says it will need to double the rate at which it installs Wi-Fi systems on aircraft to catch up with skyrocketing demand from airlines to keep passengers connected above the clouds. Airlines are rushing to install Wi-Fi on board, seeing not only an opportunity to meet demands from customers to be always connected, but also to make the most of advertising contracts from companies keen on access to this captive audience. Panasonic Avionics, part of Panasonic Corp, says it has won a 46 percent share of business for Wi-Fi systems since 2009, taking the lead over rivals such as OnAir, Gogo and Global Eagle's Row44