WASHINGTON (Aviation Transport World) — Air Astana has finished rolling out Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) high-speed connectivity on its Boeing 767 fleet.

The first of Air Astana’s three 767-300ERs went live in September 2017. On Jan. 8, 2018, the airline confirmed that the sub-fleet has now been retrofitted with inflight connectivity. Air Astana operates Boeing 767s on domestic trunk routes and high-density, long-haul routes out of Almaty and Astana.

The installation will enable high-speed broadband access for personal computers, tablets and smartphones using inflight data connectivity to the GX satellite system. Both business and economy passengers will be able to access the Rockwell Collins’ cabin system, with a choice of three connectivity options: Light (15Mb), Business (50Mb) and Super (100Mb).

The airline opted for Inmarsat’s GX/Ka-Band solution over Intelsat’s EpicNG/Panansonic Ku-Band system. Inmarsat was set up in 1979 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to enable ships to stay in constant touch with shore or to call for help in an emergency, no matter how far out to sea. Today their customers are found in many different sectors — but they are typically businesses and organisations that need to communicate where terrestrial telecom networks are unreliable or simply cannot reach.

As well as merchant shipping, Inmarsat’s customers include governments, airlines, the broadcast media, the oil and gas industry, mining, construction, and humanitarian aid agencies — to name just a few. They connect to a fleet of 13 satellites using a range of equipment, including global handheld satellite phones and notebook-size broadband internet devices, as well as specialist terminals and antennas fitted to ships, aircraft and road vehicles.