Gogo Business Aviation is partnering with Atlas Air Service AG to develop the first European Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Gogo Galileo HDX antenna for the Cessna CitationJet series of light jet aircraft and another STC for the Embraer Phenom 300.
“For the first time ever, a true global broadband service will be available to thousands of aircraft operators in Europe and around the world,” said Radu Grigore, deputy director of MRO commercial for Atlas Air Service AG.
“For many years our customers have been asking for a small and affordable broadband solution for their aircraft. We wanted to be among the first to partner with Gogo to develop these STCs and bring true broadband inflight wi-fi for every segment of business aviation.”
The STCs will cover more than 2,600 total aircraft in operation today worldwide, comprised of more than 1,850 Citations and 750 Phenom 300s.
Highlighting the small form factor and ease of installation, beginning in April, Atlas Air Service will focus its initial STC on the Cessna Citation 525 series of aircraft encompassing the CJ1, CJ2, CJ3, and CJ4, with hardware installations expected this summer on a CJ1+.
The STC for the Phenom 300 is being developed in parallel with the Citation STC through the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and validated with other agencies worldwide.
“Atlas Air Service has been at the forefront of getting these STCs developed which speaks volumes about the partnership we’ve built with them,” said Shuaib Shahid, head of international sales for Gogo Business Aviation.
“Atlas Air Service specializes in the market we are targeting for the HDX – midsize and smaller aircraft – making them the perfect partner for Gogo Galileo in Europe.”
Gogo Galileo will operate on the Eutelsat OneWeb enterprise-grade Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite network, which is fully deployed.
Gogo plans to have the Atlas Air CJ1+ available for in-person demos at the European Business Aviation Conference and Expo (EBACE) static display in Geneva, Switzerland, May 28-30.
Following more rigorous testing and verification, Gogo anticipates flight testing with the prototype HDX terminal will begin this summer.
