ARINC Implements World's First Swift64 Service for Commercial Airline Passengers

ARINC Incorporated announced Thursday in a news release that it is delivering Inmarsat's high speed Swift64 satellite service for passenger service on a commercial airline. Swift64 satellite connectivity offers greater bandwidth than earlier Inmarsat services, enabling more powerful communications both for passengers and the flight deck.

"ARINC and its partners see a great potential in Swift64 services, and we worked very closely with Iberia to determine the appropriate communications and application solutions for their business class passengers," stated Graham Lake, ARINC Vice President, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "Inmarsat Swift64 was selected based on Iberia's application requirements, route network, and passenger demographics. Swift64 delivers fast, reliable in-flight communications at a very practical cost. The industry will realize even more ground-breaking advances soon using Swift64 bandwidth."

Iberia Airlines of Spain has completed successful flight trials of high speed E-mail and Instant Messaging (IM) aboard Airbus A340-600 aircraft with Swift64 avionics. The service is expected to be operational during the second quarter of 2005 and will be offered to passengers in Iberia's new Business Plus Class on long-haul routes.

An Iberia spokesperson said, "Our in-flight trials using Swift 64 connectivity from ARINC have been extremely successful. We are creating a new experience for the business traveler using Swift64 to support our E-mail and IM applications. The feedback we have received is very positive, and we are considering a rollout of service to the rest of our fleet."

ARINC is currently developing a large communications portfolio to leverage the benefits of Swift64, as well as the future SwiftBroadbandSM service planned for launch in 2006.  SwiftBroadband will offer a minimum data rate of 432kbit/s while still making cost-effective use of key elements of existing aircraft equipment.

ARINC is headquartered in Annapolis, MD, and provides communication services and information processing systems to airports, aviation, defense, government, and surface transportation industries.

FMI: www.arinc.com