Fasten Your Seatbelts: It’s Time for Business Jet Connectivity to Soar

Business jet passengers pay a premium for a best-in-class travel experience and expect inflight connectivity to match. They want instant access to the same high-speed, reliable broadband they have on the ground and the ability to instantly tap into VPN access, VoIP and data-heavy apps, whether for work or play.

Yet, 52 percent of passengers are dissatisfied with the current quality of Wi-Fi services, according to Mobile World Capital.

This means that business jet flight departments and service providers are missing out, unable to deliver the uninterrupted connectivity that can make or break a customer experience. But, at the same time, they aren’t sure where to turn, trapped by a connectivity solution that has resulted in obsolete technology investments, unused capacity, inflexible infrastructure and complex network management.

Many network providers hold the business aviation market back from delivering a premier connectivity experience in four primary ways:

• One-size-fits-all service plans. Business jet customers’ connectivity needs are as unique as their travel plans. However, most network providers offer a single connectivity package leaving service providers unable to tailor bandwidth as they see fit, and hinders them from defining value-added services for individual customers or adjusting offerings based on regional needs, let alone downtime needed for necessary maintenance.
• Costly investments in bandwidth and infrastructure. Bandwidth demand is steadily rising, specifically in the case of business jet Ku-band GEO-HTS capacity, which is estimated to reach nearly 13 Gbps by 2026. Despite these predictions, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to accurately predict how much bandwidth is needed at any given time, forcing you to make risky capacity or infrastructure investments to fill the gaps between demand and what service providers offer today.
• Gaps in coverage. Reliable connectivity in the air is no longer a luxury, but an expectation. Delivering anything less puts your business and brand at risk. Yet, with many inflight connectivity services sharing bandwidth with other verticals, such as commercial aero or consumer broadband, it’s no wonder that coverage is spotty, particularly if jet routes shift or additional passengers come on board.
• Patchwork connectivity ecosystem. In order to deliver a streamlined end-to-end connectivity experience, you may have had no choice but to partner with many vendors, investing in technology that is quickly rendered obsolete. Suddenly, you’re faced with a patchwork system with complex management requirements and costly overhead.

The ability to future proof your inflight connectivity service often comes down to choice. Choose a partner that will help you ensure that business jet passengers have seamless, on-demand connectivity, while expanding connectivity and customization options and empower you in ways that help your business stand apart.

Intelsat, with our master distributor, Satcom Direct, has redefined business aviation connectivity and is helping business jet owners and service providers meet the demand for always-on, high-quality connectivity in the air with FlexAir. This global, end-to-end managed service was designed specifically for business aviation needs with dedicated aviation capacity that is not shared with commercial aero and consumer broadband, delivering layers of high-throughput capacity on the proven, Intelsat Epic satellite fleet.

You deserve the freedom to offer solutions that meet individual passenger needs, the flexibility to dynamically manage data usage based on when bandwidth is actually needed and used, and the peace of mind of having seamless, high quality, global, on-demand connectivity for every passenger on board, every time. You can do this all by leveraging just one network capable of powering the entire inflight connectivity ecosystem.