SAS selects Inmarsat’s GX Aviation for new A350 fleet
Inmarsat today announced that its GX Aviation inflight broadband service has been selected by Scandinavian Airlines for its new fleet of A350 aircraft.
SAS has ordered several new A350s as part of an extensive fleet renewal program. The first will be delivered from the Airbus factory in Toulouse at the end of this year with GX Aviation pre-installed. The aircraft has been named Ingegerd Viking, and will officially enter service January 28, 2020, on long-haul routes to destinations such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
GX Aviation will allow passengers in all classes Internet access, streaming video and audio, check social media, instant message with speeds on par with mobile broadband on the ground.
The airline will also benefit from major upcoming enhancements to the GX network, with additional capacity being introduced by three new satellites launching in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In addition, Inmarsat recently signed an agreement with Airbus Defence & Space to develop a new generation of GX satellites. The satellites, named GX7, 8 and 9, are optimized for real-time mobility and feature thousands of dynamically formed beams that direct capacity with laser-like precision over high-demand areas.
“GX Aviation is already the gold standard for inflight broadband and our extensive long-term development plans for the service have been extremely well received by the aviation industry, as this contract win with Scandinavian Airlines has shown,” said Philip Balaam, President of Inmarsat Aviation in today’s announcement. “The superior capabilities of GX Aviation and its status as the only solution with global coverage was a perfect fit for the airline’s new Airbus A350 aircraft, which will cover high demand long-haul routes from Scandinavia to the United States and Asia. We look forward to working with the airline on the service’s rollout to passengers from early next year.”
