Singapore, 19 February 2014 – Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, welcomes another important milestone in the GX Aviation timeline as Air China and Honeywell Aerospace sign a Memorandum of Understanding to install and test GX Aviation on Air China’s A330 aircraft, expected in the second quarter of 2015.
Inmarsat GX Aviation enables the next generation of high-speed global broadband in-flight connectivity services. It will deliver consistent, reliable, high-speed and high-capacity communications for both passenger connectivity and aircraft operations, and will enable airlines to deploy new types of connectivity applications that were previously not possible.
Inmarsat will provide GX Aviation through its fleet of three wholly-owned and operated Ka-band satellites and its dedicated, fully redundant ground network. The first of three Inmarsat-5 satellites was successfully launched in December 2013 and the remaining two are set to be in place by the end of 2014.
“We are pleased that Air China has chosen to install the GX Aviation system on their aircraft. Air China has led the movement into passenger connectivity in China with their earlier installation of Inmarsat SwiftBroadband and now GX Aviation allows them to continue that leadership and take the passenger experience to a new level,” said Bill Peltola, Inmarsat Vice President, Aviation. “This agreement gives Air China the opportunity to stay at the forefront of a highly competitive market in Asia.”
Inmarsat’s fleet of three high-throughput satellites will offer a unique combination of seamless global Ka-band coverage from a single operator, consistent performance of up to 50Mbps, and the network reliability for which Inmarsat is renowned. In addition to passenger communications, GX Aviation services will be able to support real-time TV and live feeds from the internet. It will offer airlines the next generation of connectivity with ample capacity for future growth.
The testing programme agreed between Honeywell and Air China is the latest in a series of significant steps, which confirms that GX Aviation is on track to deliver global availability for commercial airlines in the first half of 2015.
