Garuda Indonesia to Install GX Aviation Fleet Wide
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Garuda is focused on offering customers a variety of entertainment options on board, including embedded IFE and, now, broadband access fast enough to support streaming.
Indonesian wireless technology provider Mahata Aero Teknologi (MAT) has announced an agreement to offer high-speed in-flight broadband on board Garuda Indonesia’s flights through a partnership with Inmarsat, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Systems.
Garuda Indonesia will equip both its domestic and international fleets with Inmarsat’s next-generation GX Aviation in-flight connectivity, with High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) connections fast enough to support video streaming.
Lufthansa Technik will manage hardware, engineering, installation, design and certification for the project, and Lufthansa Systems will handle software platform and integration using its BoardConnect open architecture.
The service contract with Garuda Indonesia is an extension of the existing 10-year contract with the Garuda Indonesia Group’s low-cost carrier Citilink, announced during this year’s APEX EXPO.
“Our in-flight broadband offering with Inmarsat, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Systems is fast becoming the primary service amongst airlines in Asia-Pacific.” – Iwan Setiawan, MAT
Ben Griffin, Inmarsat Aviation’s regional vice-president, said of the contract extension: “Inmarsat has been working very successfully with Mahata, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Systems on the rollout of GX Aviation in-flight broadband with Citilink. The fact that Garuda Indonesia has also selected the service for its domestic and international fleet is further testament to this partnership and our market-leading service capabilities.”
“Our in-flight broadband offering with Inmarsat, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Systems is fast becoming the primary service amongst airlines in Asia-Pacific,” said Iwan Setiawan, executive director of PT Mahata Aero Teknologi. “This further confirms the confidence in our partnership’s ability to bring state-of-the-art connectivity to passengers in one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets.”
Zang Thio, Lufthansa Technik‘s senior director of Corporate Sales for Southeast Asia and the India Subcontinent, said: “As we continue to explore further innovative ways of collaborating with Mahata, we aim to roll out our connectivity solutions to additional airline customers in the future.”
At this year’s Singapore Air Show in February, Garuda Indonesia announced that it had selected Thales’ AVANT IFE for linefit installation on 14 Airbus A330neo aircraft, scheduled for delivery in 2019.
The airline was awarded 5-Stars in the Official Airline Ratings„¢ this year, based on customer feedback posted through the TripIt app by Concur.