NBAA-BACE: Inmarsat to transform Jet ConneX broadband solution
To meet the evolving needs of business jet passengers, Inmarsat has released details about its programme to transform the company’s Jet ConneX (JX) in-flight broadband solution.
Jet Connex has been activated on more than 1,250 business jets worldwide. The transformation programme, JX Evolution, was first unveiled earlier this year and Inmarsat says it has already resulted in a number of existing service plan upgrades to deliver new features such as increased upload rates at no additional cost.
Speaking exclusively with Inflight, Kai Tang, Inmarsat’s Head of Business Aviation explained that there is growing demand for high-definition video conferencing on platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom and this is one of the driving factors for JX Evolution. “We’ve had a great response from the industry in the past five years for Jet Connex but we are not sitting on our hands. We are focusing on the customer experience and are canvassing our Jet Connex subscribers to find out what is working and what isn’t.”
“In particular, we have looked at heavy users of our connectivity and there are more and more simultaneous video conferencing sessions happening during flights, for example.”
Enhanced performance and value for money
Inmarsat’s JX Edge, the first one of the company’s planned high-end service plans that offer even greater performance, speeds and value for money, also went live with several customers this month and is now available through Inmarsat’s global network of business aviation distribution partners.
“As a leading provider of inflight connectivity services for business aviation, Inmarsat has unique real-time insights into how the needs of our customers are evolving,” Kai Tang says. “As a result, we can develop our existing services and introduce new ones ahead of shifts in demand, as shown by the fact that we have upgraded service plans and are introducing new ones, starting with JX Edge, as part of our game-changing JX Evolution programme.”
Tang notes that as business aviation flight volumes are now higher than before the pandemic and usage of JX inflight broadband is at record highs, passenger expectations around a digital onboard experience have transformed. “We are building on our existing service levels to further enhance performance and value for customers, therefore ensuring their requirements will be met for many years to come.
“Customers clearly favour our unique build-up approach, which cannot be replicated by others and presents a welcome alternative to the over promising and under delivering of some others in the market.”
Inmarsat says that initially, JX Evolution will leverage Inmarsat’s existing global Ka-band satellite network and the JetWave terminal by Honeywell initially. Seven more Ka-band satellite payloads over the next five years will increase the total fleet to 12 and will be supplemented by the upcoming next-generation terminals by Satcom Direct and Orbit, which are compatible with a wide range of business jets.
JX entered commercial service in November 2016 and according to Inmarsat, is the preferred linefit option of all major business jet manufacturers, including Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault.