Consolidation Is In the Air – Navarino and Castor Marine Become One

Introduction (Joshua Flood) 2025 starts with a bang, as Navarino announces the 100% ownership purchase of Castor Marine BV, the Dutch maritime service provider of satellite connectivity and IT services. Castor Marine will retain its independent brand outside of the Navarino Group, but it will utilise Navarino’s bigger resources and digital portfolio of services. The…

Buy Me Up Before You Gogo

Craig Foster & Summer Staninski (published Oct 2024) In a recent blog, we examined the collapse of SmartSky Networks and speculated on how other aviation players might react to the fast-advancing Starlink. Now, just weeks later, long-time SmartSky adversary, Gogo, has announced its acquisition of Satcom Direct, confirming predictions of further industry consolidation. In this…

Winter is Here: SmartSky First Character to Fall as LEO Influence Spreads?

Daniel Welch & Summer Staninski On Friday August 16th 2024, SmartSky Networks announced it had ceased operations with immediate effect, bringing the curtain down on a thirteen year journey in the world of In-Flight Connectivity (IFC). Armed with 60Mhz of unlicensed spectrum which would be dedicated to IFC and patented beam-forming technology, the company set…

Rock me Amadeus!

In huge news coming out of the airports realm this week (31st January 2024), Amadeus agreed to part with €320 million to acquire biometrics solutions provider, Vision-Box. In this piece, we explore how each entity perfectly complements one another and how the coming together of these two Iberian companies should hasten the adoption of the…