Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has selected Inmarsat’s GX Aviation inflight broadband for its brand new fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft.
The announcement from Inmarsat says the system will be available for the airline’s passengers on high demand long-haul routes from Scandinavia to the United States and Asia from January 2020.
During 2019-2021, SAS will take deliveries of 8 Airbus A350 as part of an extensive fleet renewal programme. The first will be delivered from Airbus at the end of 2019 with GX Aviation pre-installed. The aircraft will officially enter service on 28th January 2020, serving long-haul routes to destinations such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
GX Aviation will be a key part of the passenger experience in the new aircraft’s economy, premium economy and business class cabins, allowing passengers to browse the internet, stream video and audio, check social media, instant message and more, with speeds on par with mobile broadband on the ground.
SAS is the latest in a growing list of European airlines to offer passengers access to GX Aviation, the world’s first and only global, high-speed inflight connectivity service delivered through a wholly-owned and operated network of high-throughput satellites.
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.
Philip Balaam, President of Inmarsat Aviation:
“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. 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.”
N.B. Image credit: SAS
