Inmarsat and Mahata executives, with Citilink cabin crew, celebrate the go-live of GX Aviation inflight broadband on the Indonesian low-cost carrier’s first aircraft.
Call it one of the fastest inflight wifi deployment project in history. Inmarsat announced today that its GX Aviation product is live for customers on Citilink Indonesia. The project, spearheaded by Indonesian telecoms provider Mahata Aero Teknologi (MAT), took just six months from the signing of a contract to activation on the first aircraft.
We are delighted that GX Aviation is now live and being enjoyed by passengers on our first aircraft. This makes Citilink the first low-cost carrier in the Asia Pacific region to offer this next generation inflight wi-fi solution. We look forward to continuing the rollout at full pace in 2019, working alongside MAT, Inmarsat, Lufthansa Systems, Lufthansa Technik and GMF AeroAsia. – Juliandra Nurtjahjo, President and CEO of Citilink
Citilink intends to deliver its wifi services to passengers free of charge. This includes access to web browsing, social media services and streaming audio and video content. Deployment will continue on the remaining fleet through 2019.
Read More: Garuda goes GX for inflight connectivity
The Citilink Indonesia deal with Inmarsat was first tipped in an April 2018 Memorandum of Understanding. That progressed to a signed contract at the end of July 2018. The first aircraft installation began in early December and rolled out just two weeks later. After a month of testing the service is now active and available to passengers.
The launch of GX Aviation onboard Citilink’s first aircraft is a major achievement in our efforts to pioneer a digital technology revolution in Indonesia. We are extremely proud that our ambitious vision is now becoming a reality, in the interest of our nation, and we are thankful for the vital support and expertise that our partners Inmarsat, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Systems and GMF AeroAsia – all global leaders in this field – have consistently provided. – Iwan Setiawan, Managing Director of PT Mahata Aero Teknologi (MAT)
MAT manages the overall service offering and provides the integration and billing services. Lufthansa Technik manages hardware, engineering, installation design and certification for the project. Lufthansa Systems is responsible for software platform and integration, based on its BoardConnect platform.
In addition to the Citilink fleet MAT claims to have secured the mainline Garuda operation as a customer. The Garuda deal could top 100 aircraft, both single and twin-aisle, in addition to the 50 Citilink aircraft currently contracted.
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