Aircell, Gogo’s business aviation arm, has officially unveiled new Inmarsat SwiftBroadband airtime programmes for the business aviation market, plus additional FANS (Future Air Navigation System) support for Iridium.
Business aircraft operators can now choose from a wide variety of SwiftBroadband data and voice plans, along with a large selection of key value-added services and self-care tools.
These include “pay-as-you-go” monthly data plans with no overage charges, no fixed monthly fees and no minimum usage requirements, with single monthly invoices for all SwiftBroadband, Iridium and Gogo Biz airtime services.
The company is also offering multi-aircraft discounts plus money-saving annual data plans for heavy data users.
Its Gogo Text & Talk service, which allows passengers to call and text with their own personal smartphones and mobile numbers, is coming soon for SwiftBroadband (and is available now for Gogo Biz).
John Wade, Aircell’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, said: “In the business aviation market, SwiftBroadband is a very important service that continues to fulfil worldwide demand for in-flight connectivity.
Aircell has also unveiled new solutions designed to help business aircraft operators comply with the global aviation industry’s forthcoming FANS mandates.
Because Aircell’s FANS solutions operate over Iridium satellites they are significantly less expensive to install than traditional satellite-based equipment packages.
John Wade said: “FANS is one of the hottest topics in the business aviation industry right now. Aircell is pleased to offer cost-effective and lightweight solutions to help aircraft operators comply with the forthcoming cockpit data link mandates.”
For FANS, Aircell is offering its Axxess System, which was first introduced in 2005 and is currently flying on thousands of aircraft.
It also offers the ST 4300 System, which was announced in March of this year. This is Aircell’s most advanced Iridium-based communications solution, with first shipments expected in June 2014. The system’s FANS capabilities are expected to be available starting in Q4 2014.
FANS capabilities are becoming mandatory for aircraft on the most desirable and frequently-used oceanic routes between North America and Europe.
The technology allow flight crews and air traffic controllers to exchange safety-sensitive flight information via a digital data link – such as clearances and requests to climb or descend.
They also enable automated position reporting via the aircraft’s FMS (Flight Management System). FANS can enable aircraft to obtain preferential altitudes and routing which improves efficiency, reduces fuel consumption and saves time.
The post EBACE 2014: Aircell unveils airtime packages and FANS support appeared first on Get Connected.