Qatar Airways Selects Inmarsat for Boeing 787-9 and 737-10 IFC

Qatar Airways has selected Inmarsat to provide the inflight connectivity (IFC) for its Boeing 787-9 and 737-10 fleet. Inmarsat will install the GX Aviation, its high-speed global inflight broadband service, on the fleet.

GX Aviation has already been rolled out successfully on other aircraft within the Qatar Airways fleet and, under the new agreement, it has already been activated on the first seven Boeing 787-9s.

Qatar Airways provides one hour of free access to its ‘Super Wi-Fi’, powered by GX Aviation, with the option to purchase full access for the remainder of each flight.

The seamless and reliable broadband will be available across the airline’s aircraft and flight routes, allowing passengers to stay connected to family and friends, browse the internet, stream video and audio, enjoy social media, shop online and more.

The announcement comes as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November, with a huge influx of tourists set to travel by air into Doha’s Hamad International Airport.

With a fully connected fleet, Qatar Airways passengers will be able to stay up-to-date with match scores, watch video replays and even livestream games from 30,000 feet, enhancing their onboard experience.

Inmarsat is committed to meeting the bandwidth requirements generated by this forthcoming event and, alongside its partner Safran Passenger Innovations, installed and activated GX Aviation on the first Qatar Airways 787-9 aircraft in less than five months from contract award.

GX Aviation is powered by Global Xpress (GX), the world’s first and only globally available broadband network, offering superior inflight connectivity on par with mobile Wi-Fi on the ground.

The GX network currently consists of five Ka-band satellites and will be further enhanced with the addition of seven more satellites as part of Inmarsat's fully-funded technology roadmap.

This includes two Inmarsat-6s, the most sophisticated commercial communications satellites ever built, both of which are scheduled to enter service next year and will be followed by three additional satellites in geostationary orbit – adding speed, capacity and resilience – and two in highly elliptical orbit, enabling the world’s only commercial mobile broadband service for aircraft flying in higher elevations and across the Arctic.

The GX network will also play a crucial role in the ongoing growth of Inmarsat’s unique ORCHESTRA dynamic mesh network, which will bring existing geosynchronous (GEO) satellites together with low earth orbit satellites (LEO) and terrestrial 5G to form an integrated, high-performance solution, unmatched by any existing or planned competitor offering.