Gogo has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2017, recording record revenues for both periods.
“During the fourth quarter, we executed on our strategic initiatives: installing 2Ku rapidly, engaging more passengers, and winning aircraft,” said Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO. “Our continued rapid deployment of high-bandwidth technologies in 2018 is the catalyst for delivering a great customer experience and long-term revenue and profitability growth.”
“Our record financial results for the quarter lay a strong foundation for 2018 financial performance,” said Barry Rowan, Gogo’s executive vice president and CFO. “With 2Ku aircraft online scaling in 2018 and continued rapid growth of our Business Aviation division, we look forward to delivering another strong year of financial performance as we target achieving positive free cash flow in 2019.”
In North America, Gogo provided connectivity services to 2,900 commercial aircraft in the quarter, of which approximately 15% were satellite-equipped aircraft. The weighted average peak speed to an aircraft in this region increased to nearly 20 Mbps, approximately doubling from Q4 2016.
The number of aircraft online reached 2,840, up 164 aircraft from 31 December, 2016. As of December, 2017, CA-NA had more than 650 awarded but not yet installed 2Ku aircraft, of which approximately 75 are net new aircraft.
Take rate reached a record 9.9%, up 36% from 7.3% in Q4 2016, due to increased passenger adoption resulting from airline and third party paid offerings.
In the rest of the world, aircraft online reached 391, up 124 aircraft from 31 December, 2016. The region had approximately 770 net new 2Ku awarded but not yet installed aircraft as of December 31, 2017.
Gogo’s business aviation service revenue grew 25% year-over-year to US$45.5 million. ATG aircraft online increased to 4,678, up 12% year-over-year, as demand for in-flight connectivity grew across all market segments, including a 19% increase in light jets and turboprop aircraft online.
2Ku was installed on more than 470 aircraft in 2017, including more than 130 outside North America, to end the year with more than 550 2Ku equipped aircraft online. This includes LATAM Airlines and Cathay Pacific Group.
