Inmarsat Tabs Honeywell As Global Value-Added Reseller Of GX Aviation Broadband Solution
Honeywell Aerospace announced in mid-November it’s now a VAR (value-added reseller) of Inmarsat’s GX Aviation in-flight broadband service, a move that effectively enters Honeywell into the airlines cabin services market. Honeywell already manufactures the JetWave hardware that business aviation aircraft use to connect to Inmarsat’s JetConneX, a Global Xpress Ka-band service billed as the “first consistent high-speed broadband service to span the world.” Honeywell also markets JetConneX to the business aviation market via its GoDirect retail services business.
A Shifting Industry
Honeywell says that due to GX Aviation’s rapid growth in recent years, it and Inmarsat have created a large installed base for the service and driven “global, industry-wide demand.” The service offers speeds up to 50 megabits per second, enabling passengers to stream video, work online, use internet-dependent apps, and more.
"A shift is underway in the aviation industry focused on connecting passengers and aircraft systems themselves anywhere in the globe with high bandwidth and secure connections to improve the flight experience and the aircraft efficiency," says Ben Driggs, Honeywell Aerospace president of Services and Connectivity. Driggs says the VAR announcement enables Honeywell to market its various GoDirect Connected Aircraft services in addition to hardware directly to airline customers.
Highly Popular Cabin Services
Honeywell says its agreement with Inmarsat aligns with success it’s seeing within the business jet sector. Specifically, Honeywell says it has seen “extraordinary growth in its cabin services offering, seeing greater than 300% growth in subscribers over the past 18 months.” Philip Balaam, Inmarsat Aviation president, says Inmarsat is thrilled the Honeywell partnership is expanding, citing Honeywell's unique experience level in this area and its close relationships with airlines as a “perfect fit” as a VAR for GX Aviation.
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Source: Honeywell
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