In a sector where every moment of downtime can impact passengers and disrupt operations, SITA has unveiled a new satellite service designed to ensure uninterrupted communication for airports and airlines, even under the most challenging conditions. Known as ‘SITA Managed Satellites', the service enables continuous connectivity during blackouts, natural disasters, or in remote and infrastructure-limited areas.
Now operational in over 130 countries, the fully managed solution offers primary, secondary, and emergency connectivity options tailored specifically for the air transport industry. Utilising low earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology, it provides secure, high-bandwidth, and low-latency communications that keep essential airport systems online, even when traditional networks fail.
The need for such a service has become more evident in recent years. From earthquakes and extreme weather to fibre cuts and bandwidth congestion, airports across the globe have experienced debilitating outages. Even major hubs are not immune to network issues during peak periods. SITA's satellite solution offers a resilient and immediate response to such vulnerabilities, ensuring critical operations remain unaffected.
SITA Managed Satellites is designed for fast, cost-effective deployment in diverse locations, including aircraft maintenance hangars, cargo centres, off-airport sites, and new or seasonal routes. It also serves as a rapid-deployment tool in emergencies, making sure ground teams and systems are never disconnected.
Martin Smillie, Senior Vice President, Communications and Data Exchange at SITA, highlighted the importance of the innovation: “Airports, in particular, need new ways to ensure they can maintain critical operations in whatever circumstances they face.” The solution also supports hybrid computing environments and may be adapted for broader transport and logistics sectors, combining high availability with cost efficiency.
