Gulfstream Aerospace Corp recently announced that it has installed its 300th aircraft with Jet ConneX, Inmarsat’s award-winning inflight broadband solution for business aviation.
This is an exciting milestone for the wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, which not only designs, develops and manufactures some of the world’s most technologically advanced business-jet aircraft, but also services and supports them too.
This 300th installation puts Gulfstream in pole position, as Inmarsat’s leading partner when it comes to delivering Jet ConneX-equipped aircraft.
Kai Tang, Senior Vice President of Channel at Inmarsat Aviation, expressed his delight, saying: “Our advanced Jet ConneX inflight wifi is the gold standard for business aviation and we are delighted that it has been installed on 300 aircraft by Gulfstream, one of the biggest and most respected names in the industry.
“In a market where only the best is good enough, this impressive milestone is testament to Jet ConneX’s successful track record of delivering consistent and reliable high-speed connectivity with seamless global coverage. We look forward to working with Gulfstream as our partnership continues to develop from strength to strength.”
"The office-in-the-sky experience is very much a reality"
Gulfstream’s first deliveries of Jet ConneX started back in May 2017, and since then have included everything from in-production large-cabin aircraft, to the all-new G600, the G650ER, G650, G550, and the clean-sheet G500, which entered service in September 2018. Nearly half the installations have been retrofits.
Derek Zimmerman, president of Gulfstream Customer Support believes installations will continue at pace. “The office-in-the-sky experience is very much a reality with Gulfstream and Jet ConneX,” he says.
“Our customers value our ability to efficiently incorporate this technology on our aircraft and the consistent and reliable global coverage it provides. They are enjoying live TV programmes, video streams and video connections, such as FaceTime, with their colleagues, family and friends.”
Tang agrees that the momentum will persist for Jet ConneX, “We think that there is so much more to do. There's so much flexibility and capability that Inmarsat brings with Global Xpress, both with its current constellation, its current service, but also with what we're going to be doing next.”
Tang is of course referring to the new satellites announced that form part of Inmarsat’s innovative, long-term vision to develop the most agile, flexible, diverse and cost-effective constellation ever conceived.
The newest fleet of satellites include GX7, 8 & 9, which are scheduled to launch from 2023, and will enable thousands of dynamically formed beams that can direct capacity with laser-like precision over high-demand areas.
On top of that GX10a and 10b have also been scheduled for 2022 and will provide Arctic coverage. It seems a new chapter for aviation’s connectivity revolution really has begun.
"It was built from the ground up for global mobility, not redesigned from a fixed satellite service"
Inmarsat has also been hitting lots of milestones this year, celebrating the 1,000th installation across its next-generation inflight broadband solutions (GX Aviation, European Aviation Network and Jet ConneX) earlier this year. Jet ConneX represented almost 500 of those installs at the time and uptake is showing no signs of slowing down.
Jet ConneX delivers a high-speed and reliable inflight broadband service, making it ideal for business aviation. Providing seamless coverage, no matter where business jets need to fly, the revolutionary service is backed by Inmarsat’s Global Xpress, the first worldwide Ka-band network from a single operator.
“It was built from the ground up for global mobility,” explains Tang. “It is built on the Global Xpress platform designed for aviation, not redesigned from a fixed satellite service that was intended for antennas on top of houses or buildings, but something that was designed by somebody who, like Inmarsat, really understands how mobile aviation works.”
Earlier this year, Inmarsat also announced a brand-new top-end package for Jet ConneX customers, offering its fastest-ever plan, called JX-Pro. The package offers unlimited data usage and 33% higher speeds compared to Jet ConneX’s previous fastest plan.
“More and more business aviation customers are expressing an interest in upgrading to a faster, all-inclusive connectivity package, so it was natural for us to introduce JX-Pro to meet that demand,” explained Melinda Janda, Inmarsat Aviation’s Vice President of Market Strategy.
“We have the fastest global network and we can deliver the fastest speeds in the business aviation market. So we are essentially opening the top off, so that people can take full advantage of the JX system”.
