Press Release: Inmarsat GX broadband now available with AirAsia

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Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications, today announced that its award-winning GX Aviation inflight broadband solution has entered commercial service with leading low-cost airline AirAsia.

AirAsia is currently offering GX Aviation to passengers onboard a number of initial aircraft through its RedBeat Ventures subsidiary, ROKKI, marking a significant upgrade to their inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) experience. To celebrate the occasion, passengers are being offered a free trial on GX Aviation-equipped aircraft from today until 30 September 2019.

The service integrates with the airline’s entertainment and e-commerce platform, allowing passengers to access a variety of free entertainment, music, games, news and shopping using their personal mobile devices. It will be rolled out across AirAsia’s Airbus A320 and A330 fleet over the next year.

Philip Balaam, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said: “AirAsia’s launch of GX Aviation services is a significant milestone, as it brings to life the airline’s bold and innovative new digital offering for passengers. We are confident that their upgrade from basic connectivity to the industry’s gold standard inflight broadband will be warmly embraced by passengers. Our teams continue to work closely together to install GX Aviation on the rest of AirAsia’s fleet of Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft, making it available to millions of new passengers each month.”

Aireen Omar, AirAsia Group President (RedBeat Ventures), said: “As the pioneer of LCC inflight Wi-Fi in the region, we are always looking for ways to redefine the inflight digital experience for our guests. Introducing Ka-band, powered by ROKKI, is the next logical step in this process, with the enhanced inflight connectivity allowing our guests to stay connected throughout their journey and perform data-intensive activities such as live-streaming. This also enables better real-time analytics, allowing us to offer more personalised services to AirAsia’s 100 million guests annually.”

AirAsia is the latest airline to launch commercial service with GX Aviation, powered by the world’s first and only globally available broadband network. It will also benefit from major upcoming enhancements to Inmarsat’s GX network, with additional capacity being introduced by three new GX payloads, which are scheduled to launch in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In addition, Inmarsat recently signed landmark agreements to develop a pioneering new generation of GX satellites, which represent a transformative step-change in inflight broadband capabilities. These include the ground-breaking GX7, 8 & 9 satellites, which feature thousands of dynamically-formed beams that direct capacity over high-demand areas, and the innovative new GX10A & 10B Arctic payloads, which will be the only broadband satellite service dedicated to this region.

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About Inmarsat

Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s best global portfolio of satellite networks, specifically designed for customer mobility, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides.  Inmarsat’s long established global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance.  The company has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable global mobile satellite networks, sustaining business and mission critical safety & operational applications for 40 years. It is also a major driving force behind technological innovation in mobile satellite communications, sustaining its leadership through a substantial investment and a powerful network of technology and manufacturing partners.   Inmarsat operates across a diversified portfolio of sectors with the financial resources to fund its business strategy and holds leading positions in the Maritime, Government and Aviation satcoms markets, operating consistently as a trusted, responsive and high quality partner to its customers across the globe.

About ROKKI

ROKKI is a leading provider of inflight entertainment, e-commerce and connectivity solutions that powers the award-winning AirAsia WiFi digital platform. ROKKI has revolutionised the traveller experience, enabling millions to stay online and connected on their personal mobile device above the clouds. ROKKI continues to grow across a number of territories with its on-board WiFi services and cutting edge, media-rich digital advertising solutions.

About AirAsia

AirAsia, the world’s leading low-cost carrier, services an extensive network of over 150 destinations across Asia Pacific. Since starting operations in 2001, AirAsia has carried more than 500 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 200. The airline is proud to be a truly Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines as well as India and Japan, servicing a network stretching across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the US. AirAsia has been named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline at the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards 10 times in a row from 2009 to 2018. AirAsia was also awarded World’s Leading Low-Cost Airline for the sixth consecutive year at the 2018 World Travel Awards, where it also won the World’s Leading Low-Cost Airline Cabin Crew award for a second straight year.