Inmarsat celebrated the 1,000th installation and activation of its Jet ConneX inflight connectivity solution. The milestone coincides with the fifth anniversary of Jet ConneX. It says since entering commercial service in November 2016, it developed into the business aviation industry's gold standard inflight connectivity service, offering consistent and high speed broadband in the air that was previously only available on the ground.

Powered by Inmarsat's global Ka-band satellite network Global Xpress, Jet ConneX is the preferred linefit option for business jet manufacturers including Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault. Inmarsat received type certificate and STC approvals for the service from the FAA and EASA across original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket MROs.

Following a period of turbulence over the past 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent survey commissioned by Inmarsat and Corporate Jet Investor found that almost 80% of respondents believe more frequent business aviation flights will be taken in the next year and 90% feel online activities will dominate principals' time in the air.

It recently unveiled plans for Orchestra, the communications network of the future, which will bring existing geosynchronous satellites together with low earth orbit satellites and terrestrial 5G to form an integrated, high performance solution. It aims to boost capacity in high density areas such as at airports, eliminating congested network 'hot spots' and ensuring the connectivity needs of business aviation customers continue to be met.

Kai Tang, Inmarsat's head of business aviation says: “The business world has evolved considerably since the onset of COVID-19 and during times of unprecedented turbulence and instability, business leaders cannot afford to be disconnected. As a result, we have experienced a rapid surge in demand for the fast, reliable and consistent inflight Wi-Fi that only Jet ConneX can deliver, wherever and whenever they fly. We believe this is a long term trend that won't level off as we come out of this COVID era.

“Therefore, the outlook is bright, and we look forward to working with our partners to build on the momentum of the past five years, with 1,000 activations now achieved and many more to come. As part of these efforts, we are investing more than ever in several upcoming next-generation satellites, plus significant enhancements to our ground stations, hardware and software, all backed by world-class cybersecurity.”