Inmarsat: Greener Flights Coming to Italy Soon as ITA Airways to Join Iris Air Traffic Modernisation Programme
9.3.2023 10:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Digitally-connected flights to and from Italy will be available from this summer, as ITA Airways rolls out the European Space Agency (ESA) and Inmarsat’s ground-breaking Iris data link technology to the cockpits of its full aircraft fleet, contributing to airspace modernisation in Europe.
ITA Airways will be the first full service carrier in Europe to join Iris. The programme enables aircraft to fly more fuel-efficient routes by providing digital satellite communications to complement VHF data link, which is nearing a capacity crunch in congested airspace. Without fast and reliable data links between aircraft and the ground, air traffic managers cannot unlock the 8-10% reduction in CO2 emissions identified by EUROCONTROL from improved Air Traffic Management (ATM). Iris will allow ATM players to better anticipate and collaborate to maximise airspace use, reducing the impact of disruptions for passengers while reducing emissions.
The Italian national carrier will equip its full fleet of new Airbus A320neo and A330neo aircraft deliveries with Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband-Safety (SB-S), the award-winning platform flying on more than 230 aircraft globally, which powers Iris. Its aircraft will also play a significant role in Iris demonstration flights, which will take place across European airspace supported by 14 Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) during 2023.
This news comes as five more airlines have now equipped aircraft with Inmarsat SB-S, after Airbus’ Light Cockpit Satcom (LCS) terminal became available to order in December 2022. Current SB-S users include Virgin Atlantic, Jet2, and Transavia Airlines, in addition to ITA Airways and easyJet.
Across the seven European airlines, 72 aircraft deliveries with Airbus LCS installed are anticipated during 2023-2024. Iris-capable Inmarsat terminals across many more of Europe’s commercial airlines will further support the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) masterplan.
Alessio Leone, Head of Camo Operations, at ITA Airways said “ITA Airways was born to guarantee Italy quality connectivity with a strong focus on the environmental impact through an important investment made in a homogeneous and technologically advanced fleet, which in 2026 will be made up of 80% of new generation aircrafts becoming the greenest fleet in Europe. We are proud to join the Iris programme, which is fully in line with our growth strategy as it reflects two of the core pillars of ITA Airways: sustainability and innovation. ITA Airways is the first full service carrier in Europe with a new fleet fully equipped with this cutting-edge technology by Inmarsat Aviation, delivering operational and environmental benefits.”
Joel Klooster, Inmarsat Aviation’s Senior Vice President of Aircraft Operations and Safety, said “We are delighted to welcome ITA Airways as the second airline to join Iris, coming only months after easyJet was announced as the first airline. This shows the impressive momentum that continues to build around the programme as it heads towards commercial service introduction in Europe this year, followed by a full global rollout. Iris will mark a transformational step-change in air traffic management, delivering operational and environment benefits for airlines and the aviation industry as a whole, while also enhancing the flight experience for passengers.”
Javier Benedicto, Acting Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said: “We are proud to support the space-enabled digitalisation of Europe’s skies, which will help to make aviation greener. ESA developed the Iris system in partnership with Inmarsat and we welcome ITA Airways as the first full service carrier and the second airline to sign up to use it. Investing in space improves life on Earth.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
ITA follows easyJet, which became the first airline to join the programme last June.
ABOUT ITA AIRWAYS
ITA Airways is a company totally owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance for the exercise of business in the air transport sector. ITA Airways aims at creating an efficient and innovative air carrier that will become a reference point in providing Italy with quality connectivity both in terms of international destinations, thus boosting tourism and foreign trade, and within the Country, also taking advantage of the train-air integrated mobility. ITA Airways will place the best customer service at the center of its strategy (through a strong digitization of processes that ensure a best-in-class experience and personalized services), combined with sustainability, in its environmental (new green and technologically advanced aircraft, use of sustainable fuels), social (equality and inclusion for a gender-neutral company) and governance (integration of sustainability into internal strategies and processes) aspects. ITA Airways is a member of SkyTeam alliance as of October 2021.
ABOUT INMARSAT
Inmarsat delivers world leading, innovative, advanced and exceptionally reliable global, mobile communications across the world – in the air, at sea and on land - that are enabling a new generation of commercial, government and mission-critical services. Inmarsat is powering the digitalisation of the maritime industry, making operations more efficient and safer than ever before. It is driving a new era of inflight passenger services for aviation, while ensuring that aircraft can fly with maximum efficiency and safety. Furthermore, Inmarsat is enabling the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and enabling the next wave of world-changing technologies that will underpin the connected society and help build a sustainable future. And now Inmarsat is developing the first-of-its-kind, multi-dimensional communications network of the future, ORCHESTRA.
In November 2021, Inmarsat and Viasat announced the planned combination of the two companies, to create a new leader in global communications.
For further information, follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram.
ABOUT IRIS
Iris benefits airlines and ANSPs by bringing the bandwidth and reliability to allow digital exchanges between the aircraft and ground systems. System-to-system digital communication enables flights to be managed more efficiently through trajectory-based operations. These 4 Dimensional Trajectory-Based Operations (4D TBO) improve the management of airspace capacity, unlocking operational efficiency for airlines by avoiding holding patterns, accessing improved routes and optimum altitudes, and using continuous climb and descent pathways. The additional datalink capacity provided by SB-S will also power a host of onboard digital applications, such as AI flight profile optimisers and real-time weather applications.
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification of ESSP as the Communication Service Provider for the Iris data link service is nearing completion, and will mark the first air navigation service provider to own a pan-European certificate that allows cross-border delivery of air traffic management services.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230308005515/en/
Contact information
Inmarsat
press@inmarsat.com
ITA Airways
Nicolò Mardegan
Head of Communication and Institutional Relations
media@ita-airways.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Riskified Study Finds Consumers Aren’t Ready to Hand Over Control as AI Transforms Shopping, with Over Half Afraid of Online Fraud27.4.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Riskified (NYSE: RSKD), a global leader in ecommerce fraud and risk intelligence, today released the Q1 2026 edition of its Agentic Commerce Pulse, a quarterly research series tracking agentic commerce risks and consumer engagement. Following Riskified’s inaugural Q4 2025 survey, which first highlighted the rapid emergence of agent-driven commerce, the latest findings reveal a more complex reality: while AI adoption remains strong, consumer trust is not keeping pace. A widening gap is emerging between how shoppers use AI and how much control they are willing to give it. The survey, conducted among consumers across the United States and the United Kingdom, shows that AI is now firmly embedded in product discovery and decision-making. However, compared to Riskified’s agentic commerce pulse survey in Q4 2025, consumer sentiment has shifted, with growing concerns around fraud, security, and accountability slowing the path to fully autonomous, agent-driven transactions. Key findings from th
Nine in 10 Expect Cross-Border M&A Surge, But 71% of Dealmakers Have Already Changed Course on Deals27.4.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Cross-border M&A is set for a strong resurgence, with nine in 10 senior dealmakers expecting activity to increase over the next 12 to 24 months, according to new research from CSC, the leading provider of business administration and compliance solutions. However, despite this renewed momentum, execution risk is rising, with regulatory scrutiny and operational challenges making it harder to get deals over the line. CSC¹ surveyed 200 director level and above global dealmakers across private equity, corporate, legal, and advisory roles who have worked on cross-border transactions in the past two years. The report, The New Reality of Cross-Border M&A: More Deals, More Friction, explores how firms are navigating an increasingly complex global deal environment. The findings highlight a growing disconnect between ambition and execution. Cross-border transactions are expected to form a significant portion of deal pipelines, with 47% of respondents expecting them to account for between 26% and
Mundipharma announces positive topline results from Phase III ReSPECT trial assessing ▼ REZZAYO ® (rezafungin) for the prophylaxis of invasive fungal diseases in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients27.4.2026 14:43:00 EEST | Press release
Mundipharma today announced positive Phase III topline results from the global ReSPECT clinical trial evaluating REZZAYO® (rezafungin acetate) for prophylaxis of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) in adult patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The ReSPECT Phase III trial, one of the largest antifungal, multicentre, randomised, double-blind studies evaluated the efficacy and safety of once weekly rezafungin compared with a SAR for the prophylaxis of IFDs, including infections caused by Candida, Aspergillus, and Pneumocystis, in adults undergoing allogeneic HSCT. Patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT face prolonged periods of immunosuppression and routinely require extended antifungal prophylaxis,1 representing a setting where differentiated dosing, improved side effect profile, and reduced DDI is beneficial, and comparable efficacy is expected. The ReSPECT study met its primary endpoint for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines
tesa Selects Kinaxis as the Digital Backbone for Global Integrated Business Planning Transformation27.4.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
Kinaxis® (TSX: KXS), a global leader in end‑to‑end supply chain orchestration, today announced that tesa SE, a global manufacturer of adhesive tapes and self-adhesive product solutions, has selected the Kinaxis Maestro™ platform as a core enabler of its global, multi‑year supply chain and integrated business planning (IBP) transformation. Following an extensive evaluation, tesa selected Kinaxis to support its evolution from regionally fragmented planning practices toward a centrally governed, globally orchestrated IBP operatingmodel. Kinaxis will support tesa in improving enterprise-wide transparency, strengthening resilience, and enabling faster, more informed decision making across an increasingly complex and volatile global supply chain network. With 130 years of innovation, tesa is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of adhesive tapes and self-adhesive product solutions. Operating across six global regions and serving both complex industrial and fast-moving consumer markets, t
vVARDIS Announces Investment from Apollo —Achieves Unicorn Status27.4.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
vVARDIS Holding AG (“vVARDIS”), a high-growth dental medtech company pioneering non-invasive cavity treatment, today announced a strategic minority investment from Apollo-managed funds (“Apollo Funds”). The investment will support vVARDIS’ next phase of global growth and commercial expansion, including the continued rollout of its Curodont™ suite of products. The investment establishes vVARDIS as one of Europe’s few privately owned, billion-dollar-plus, healthcare companies. vVARDIS’ founders and co-CEOs, Drs. Haley and Goly Abivardi, will retain a substantial majority shareholding in the company. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260415938477/en/ Photo credit: Jos Schmid, Photographer vVARDIS is redefining the treatment of cavities through its Curodont™ technology, the first and only commercially available non-invasive peptide-containing formulations clinically proven to treat tooth decay. Curodont™ supports en
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom