Lake Forest-based Panasonic Avionics Corp. last week inked a $1 billion contract to provide in-flight entertainment systems for Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates.
Under the deal—its largest in recent history—Panasonic Aviation also will provide broadband Internet, live TV and mobile phone services for the airline’s entire long-haul fleet of wide-body aircraft.
Wide-body airplanes typically have two aisles and carry anywhere from 200 to more than 800 passengers.
“It’s a huge deal and reinforces Panasonic’s leadership position in the world of in-flight entertainment and connectivity,” said Neil James, executive director of corporate sales and product management.
The 10-year exclusive agreement, currently being finalized, is valued at more than $1 billion at list prices.
It includes a full-service maintenance contract and mobile phone services through a partnership with AeroMobile Communica-tions Ltd., a U.K.-based company owned by Telenor Group, the sixth-largest telecommunications company in the world.
Plan
Etihad Airways and Panasonic Avionics are developing a plan to install eX2 and eX3 in-flight entertainment systems on 116 planes.
Under the agreement, Etihad Airways will install Panasonic’s eX2 system on its Airbus A380s made by France’s Airbus SAS, as well as 787s and 777-300ERs from Boeing Co. in Chicago. The airline plans to use the newer eX3 on its Airbus A350 aircraft.
The Etihad deal reflects global growth at Panasonic that’s spurred local hiring and is expected to boost work for local suppliers.
Panasonic Avionics held a job fair last weekend at its headquarters to fill more than 80 positions, including technical, software, hardware, mechanical and systems engineers, as well as technical program and project managers.
“It will drive some growth,” James said. “This is good news for our whole supply chain.”
Etihad began operations in 2003, and carries more than 7 million passengers annually.
From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, the airliner serves 86 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America with a fleet of 63 Airbus and Boeing planes.
100 Aircraft
Etihad has 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger plane.
The Etihad deal is the latest in a string of recent contract wins by Panasonic Avionics, the market share leader in in-flight entertainment.
This month, it was selected to provide Wi-Fi on more than 300 aircraft for Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc., parent of United and Continental airlines. Panasonic will provide broadband Internet and video streaming to passengers that United is set to debut in mid-2012.
In September, it was selected by Japan Airlines Co. to supply its broadband connectivity products for the airliner’s Boeing 777 fleet.
The airliner will be among the first to offer broadband Internet service across the Pacific on flights from Japan to North America and Europe, a long-standing hurdle in the in-dustry.
Panasonic Avionics is the sixth-largest aerospace and defense contractor in Orange County, according to the Business Journal’s list on the industry published in June. It has more than $1 billion in annual sales.
The company employs more than 1,200 people, and its sprawling Lake Forest campus includes six buildings housing engineering, programming, testing and some assembly, among other operations.
It competes against Irvine-based Thales Avionics Inc., part of French electronics company Thales Group, and to a lesser extent Lumexis Corp. in Irvine, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Rockwell Collins Inc.’s media unit in Tustin.
Panasonic Avionics, part of Japan-based Panasonic Corp., employs more than 3,100 employees companywide with operations in 80 locations.
It counts more than 200 customers, including nearly every major domestic airliner and numerous international ones. The company’s in-flight entertainment systems are carried on more than 3,700 planes.
