Photo: Valour Consultancy

Even though the in-flight connectivity (IFC) market has been established and growing for years, less than half of commercial aircraft are equipped with connectivity. This was one of the key findings of Valour Consultancy’s “Quarterly IFEC Market Tracker,” which the company released details of on Feb. 18. As things stand, less than 12,000 aircraft are connected, which represents less than half of the active commercial fleet in service.

SpaceX is continuing to make inroads into this market; it now has more than 5,000 aircraft under contract. Recent wins with Emirates, IAG, Lufthansa Group, Korean Group and Southwest are significant awards.

Interestingly, when it comes to commercial airlines with most unconnected aircraft, three of top five airlines come from China: China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China. Major European low-cost airline, Ryanair, is fifth on this list.

Valour also points to some other interesting dynamics in the market. It says that China now accounts for more than 4,400 commercial aircraft, yet only around 10% are currently connected. It says while the market presents regulatory and partnership complexities for Western vendors, recent developments — including China Southern’s selecting SES’s IFC solution for its new A350s and Spacesail’s launch of its “Thousand Sails” LEO network – indicate momentum is building.

Beyond China, according to Valour’s research, 60% of aircraft registered to carriers in the Asia Pacific region remain unconnected, a report the figured called “staggering.”