Satcom Direct to open new office in Dubai

Florida-based Satcom Direct is to open a new office in Dubai to better service the growing demand for airborne connectivity in the MENA region.
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The office, which will be at Business Bay, Burj Khalifa District, will open next month and offer consultancy, training and support services for Satcom Direct's customers and partners.

The company supports Inmarsat, Iridium and ViaSat Yonder satellite connectivity and is also a reseller of SITA's VHF data network.
 
Supported services include Inmarsat's “classic” Aero-H, Aero-I and Swift-64 services, as well as Inmarsat's L-band SwiftBroadband. Satcom Direct has also been appointed as a distribution partner for Inmarsat's future Global Xpress Ka-band service, which will begin launch in 2013 with full implementation in 2014.
 
David Greenhill (pictured), president and co-owner of Satcom Direct, said that the company is seeing significant growth in the use of airborne satellite connectivity.
 
In 2008/2009 business was tough, as it was for all of us, but in the last couple of years we have seen tremendous growth, especially with SwiftBroadband,” Greenhill said. “The data traffic for business aviation has doubled.”
 
The company also specialises in satcom integration – enabling cabin network hardware and software to work together.
 
The new Dubai office follows the official opening of Satcom Direct's other new office at Hangar 2 at TAG Farnborough Airport in the UK in June. Greenhill said that the Farnborough office will offer support and consultancy services and act as a springboard for Satcom Direct's further expansion into Europe.
 
The company is to open another office in Sao Paulo, Brazil within the next couple of months and have a facility in Hong Kong within a year.
 
The offices will also support Satcom direct's own suite of connectivity products including its FlightDeck Freedom datalink service, which provides pilots with critical data such as pre-departure clearances, digital ATIS, oceanic clearances, airport weather, graphical weather and flight plan routes, for a single up-front annual cost.
 
Satcom Direct, which is aptly headquartered at Florida's Satellite Beach, has a number of other connectivity applications include SkyTicket, which offers charter operators a Wi-Fi “hot spot” in the air, and Flight Tracker, which shows the position and details of an operator's aircraft via a web-based or Apple iPad application.