Aircell Becomes Latest GX Aviation Distribution Partner For Business Aviation
- GX Aviation remains on track for service entry in early 2015
NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, Las Vegas Nevada | October 22, 2013– Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), the world’s leading provider of mobile satellite communications services, and Honeywell Aerospace have announced Aircell, Gogo’s (NASDAQ: GOGO) business aviation subsidiary, as a GX Aviation distribution partner for the business aviation market. Aircell is already an Inmarsat SwiftBroadband distribution partner.
The formal GX agreement is between Aircell and Honeywell, the designated business aviation reseller for Inmarsat’s ground-breaking Ka-band connectivity services.
“GX Aviation is rapidly gathering momentum and everything is coming into place. The first satellite is scheduled to be available to support a launch as early as December this year. The development of the ground infrastructure is progressing as planned and Honeywell is moving ahead with the airborne terminals,” said Miranda Mills, Inmarsat President, Aviation. “With the addition of Aircell to our list of distribution partners, we have signed up all the major inflight connectivity service providers and we are already having very positive discussions with aircraft owners and operators.”
Using Ka-band technology, GX Aviation will be the first globally available high-speed broadband network. It will offer the unique combination of global coverage from a single operator, consistent higher performance with true broadband speeds, and the network reliability for which Inmarsat is renowned.
John Wade, Aircell’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, said, “We’re pleased to be selected to offer this important new service to the business aviation market. Aircell already offers one of the most comprehensive in-flight connectivity portfolios in the industry, and offering GX Aviation service is a very logical addition.”
The first of the Inmarsat-5 satellites which will make up the GX constellation is currently in final preparation for shipment at Boeing’s El Segundo satellite manufacturing facility. It will be traveling to Kazakhstan in the next few weeks. GX Aviation is scheduled to enter service in early 2015.
The headset is the most critical part of any IFE system. It defines the quality of audio delivery and its look and feel defines the quality of the Airline. The headset is probably responsible for more passenger complaints, and IFE reliability issues than any other IFE component - so why do most airlines leave its procurement to the catering department?”