AirSprint Becomes Gogo’s First Canadian 5G Customer

AirSprint Private Aviation, a leading Canadian fractional operator, will begin upgrading its Cessna Citation CJ3+ and Embraer aircraft to Gogo 5G—thereby earning the Calgary, Alberta-based concern the distinction of being Gogo’s first Canadian fleet customer.

AirSprint president and CEO James Elian stated: “We strive to provide the highest level of service, and we are always looking for new and innovative ways to enhance our fractional owner’s experience—seamless inflight connectivity (IFC) from Gogo was an easy decision. Gogo’s 5G system will allow us to provide the best-in-class IFC our owners expect.”

Gogo COO Sergio Aguirre set forth: “AirSprint’s selection of Gogo 5G reinforces the value of ATG connectivity for aircraft flying in North America that demand exceptional speeds. Coupled with Gogo’s award-winning customer support, AirSprint customers will realize the superior performance of Gogo 5G on the industry’s most reliable ATG network.”

The agreement includes options for AirSprint to upgrade its midsize aircraft with Gogo Galileo HDX, Gogo’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) global broadband solution.

Externally, Gogo’s AVANCE L5 comprises two belly-mounted multiband (MB13) antennas. The system will operate on the Gogo Biz 4G network until the AVANCE LX5 single box LRU—fully-integrated with Gogo 5G connectivity—is available for installation in 2024’s second or third quarter.

OneWeb, Gogo’s LEO satellite network provider, completed deployment of its 588-satellite LEO constellation at the end of March 2023. The London-based communications company expects its constellation to be operational and aero-ready in 2024’s first quarter, with Gogo’s global broadband service coming online prior to the end of 2024.

In February 2023, Gogo and its antenna provider, Hughes Network Systems, completed preliminary design review of a proprietary, electronically-steerable antenna (ESA) assembly, thereby bringing Gogo one step closer to realizing its vision of delivering an order-of-magnitude improvement in inflight connectivity for all sizes and manner of global business aircraft—many of which currently want for a viable broadband solution.

In May 2023, Gogo unveiled a second electronically-steered antenna (ESA) compatible with the company’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband network. The new antenna’s debut occasioned the introduction of Gogo’s Galileo product line.

Gogo Galileo now offers two fuselage-mounted antennas: the previously announced HDX model, the small size of which lends itself to installation on even light business aircraft models; and the newly-announced FDX antenna—which is designed to fit on larger aircraft and delvers best-in-class performance.

Gogo developed the HDX and FDX antennas in close collaboration with broadband equipment and services provider Hughes Network Systems, which will manufacture both models.

The new FDX antenna is a premier solution offering the selfsame base functions of its more compact HDX predecessor, while offering users faster data speeds, higher throughput, and lower latency than current geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems are capable of delivering—thereby simultaneously supporting multiple unique VPN, interactive video, and gaming sessions aboard a given aircraft.

Upon Galileo’s launch, Gogo—by virtue of a hybrid LEO and 5G architecture enabled by the AVANCE platform’s unique multi-bearer capability—will offer the North American continent’s fastest and highest-capacity inflight connectivity products.

AVANCE L3 and L5 feature Gogo Vision 360, a complete IFEC architecture providing unlimited streaming of on-demand movies, television news and programming, leading digital magazine titles, and a state-of-the-art 3D moving map. Gogo Vision’s fixed monthly price eliminates the unpredictability and high costs characteristic of competitors’ in-flight streaming services

Gogo’s AVANCE L5 5G promises to afford air-travelers greater connectivity and data transfer rates across more devices than extant systems. Specifically, Gogo 5G is expected to deliver an average of approximately 25-megabytes-per-second (Mbps), with peak-speeds in the 75-80 Mbps range. To address the increasing demand for data-heavy interactive services the likes of video conferencing and gaming, the network has been designed to deliver high throughput with low latency.

The multi-bearer capability and software-centric design of Gogo’s AVANCE platform allows customers to future-proof their inflight connectivity investments, and offers upgrade paths to Gogo’s 5G and global Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based networks.

Aircraft equipped with Gogo’s AVANCE L5 air-to-ground inflight Wi-Fi system may be upgraded straight-away to Gogo 5G.

FMI: www.gogoair.com