Inflight attended the official opening of Viasat’s highly advanced International Business Headquarters in London on Thursday 11 April which featured speeches by UK’s Minister for Space, Andrew Griffith and Viasat President Guru Gowrappan, as well as an insightful media roundtable discussion with the company’s aviation market executives.
Following Viasat acquiring UK-based Inmarsat last year, the location is part of Viasat’s focus to streamline operations and drive synergies to better serve its global mobility and government customer base. It also houses Viasat’s UK Network Operations Centre and Satellite Control Centre, which will provide satellite, network, and cybersecurity capabilities to customers in the UK and around the world.
UK’s Minister for Space, Andrew Griffith commented at the event: “Viasat locating here in the UK is a testament to our country’s growing reputation as a global space hub where innovation can thrive and businesses flourish.”
“As satellite communications become increasingly central to our modern world, Viasat’s new Centre will play a pivotal role in expanding connectivity, whilst also providing high quality careers and economic growth.”
Jason Smith, President of Global Operations at Viasat and leader of the London office, said: “The official opening of our International Business Headquarters is an important moment for the company and underlines our commitment to the UK.
“Innovation and scalable execution is key to driving growth in the satellite communications industry and this is one of our core missions. The Innovation Lab we are exhibiting today demonstrates what this commitment means in practical terms. It fosters a partnership ecosystem environment where Viasat can collaborate on technology innovation to drive market discovery and commercial opportunities in areas such as IoT direct-to-device.”
International focus
At the media roundtable following the tour of the impressive building in London’s Finsbury Square, Viasat’s aviation market executives shared more details about Viasat’s recent international connectivity developments. Meherwan Polad, Chief Commercial Officer of Viasat Aviation noted that while Viasat’s focus was first to bring high-capacity connectivity for air passengers in the US with major carriers such as Delta, several other international markets have followed suit and he pointed out the APAC region and the Middle East in particular as regions where there have been significant developments.
When it comes to business aviation connectivity, Kai Tang, Viasat’s Head of Business Aviation explained that we have surpassed matching the “at home” experience when it comes to service levels on board business jets served by the company, referring to Viasat’s excellent customer support. The company has seen a lot of demand currently especially for super-midsize business aircraft.
