Intelsat announced recently it has expanded its partnership with SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation to use its next-generation JCSAT-1C high-throughput satellites (HTS) over Japan and Asia, one of the fastest-growing markets for air travel. The partnership should help promote faster internet connection speeds on board flights.
“When it comes to inflight connectivity, customers and passengers today expect a top-notch, seamless experience,” said Dave Bijur, senior vice president-commercial at Intelsat Commercial Aviation. “Our expanded partnership with SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation to augment our network provides a leading experience, exceeding airline and passenger expectations.”
“JSAT continues to be an important and preferred partner of Intelsat, providing high-quality capacity in Asia,“ said Intelsat’s Vice President of Business Development- Network Partnerships Adam Troy. “We have partnered with JSAT for many years, dating back to our first joint venture satellite, Horizons-1. We know we can count on JSAT’s support to serve our customers’ needs across multiple market sectors, augmenting our global satellite network. This capacity, in particular, will allow Intelsat to continue providing best-in-class in-flight connectivity over Japan for years to come.”
“We’ve had a long-lasting partnership with Intelsat, starting with our JCSAT-5A satellite for Intelsat’s service to Japan Airlines (JAL),” said Teruo Yamashita, Group President of Global Business Group at SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. “As air traffic continues to grow in Japan and Asia, expanding our partnership with Intelsat was a logical solution because of the company’s reputation for delivering reliable, state-of-the-art communications and its forward-looking solutions to support global mobility.”
Intelsat was recently named Best Inflight Wi-Fi Service by Global Traveler Magazine. With an initial US$2 billion investment, Intelsat is building the world’s first global unified software-defined network to support the next generation of global mobility. This includes a new fleet of software-defined satellites to meet airline passenger demand for streaming-quality inflight connectivity.
Intelsat signs deal with LATAM Airlines
Intelsat along with LATAM Airlines Group announced Intelsat’s connectivity service will be installed on the airline’s fleet of Airbus narrowbody aircraft including A320ceo and A320neo variants, based in Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. The installations will include up to 160 total aircraft and will take three years to complete. Approximately 70 new-delivery aircraft are expected to be installed with Intelsat’s 2Ku system by Airbus, prior to delivery to LATAM, at its manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe. When completed the entire fleet of LATAM narrowbody aircraft will be served by Intelsat’s IFC service.