Icelandair to turn on Viasat IFC on 737 MAX-9 fleet

Viasat has received EASA certification for its in-flight connectivity system onboard Icelandair’s Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft.

IFC system was installed earlier this year, but it had been deactivated pending the certificate from EASA. The MAX-9 aircraft will now join Icelandair’s MAX-8 fleet, providing connectivity to passengers flying between the US and Europe via scenic Iceland. This service launched on MAX-8 aircraft in March 2021.

Icelandair expects all Viasat-enabled aircraft to be installed by April 2022.

“We are honoured to work alongside the highly motivated Icelandair team in accomplishing this major milestone,” said Don Buchman, VP/GM, Commercial Aviation at Viasat. “As passengers increasingly return to air travel, the importance of great in-flight Wi-Fi is paramount, and Icelandair is providing customers a great connectivity experience so they can do what they want online while in the air.”

The Viasat-equipped Icelandair aircraft will connect to Viasat’s high-capacity satellite network. Over Europe, this network includes the KA-SAT satellite and could include others like Avanti’s Hylas constellation in the future. When traveling over the US, Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean, the aircraft will connect with several other Viasat satellites, including ViaSat-2.

In the future, these aircraft will be able to link to the company’s next-generation satellite constellation, ViaSat-3. The ViaSat-3 constellation includes three ultra-high-capacity satellites that will offer global coverage, with each expected to deliver over 1 Terabit per second of total network throughput.