Iridium said the number of aircraft fitted with its satellite communications equipment has grown by more than 100 percent in the last year. Iridium subscribers in the aviation market recently surpassed 5,000, the company announced, adding that the number of aircraft fitted with Iridium-based data systems has grown 200 percent in the last 12 months.

“The aviation sector is a core and growing market for Iridium,” said Don Thoma, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite. “Our rapid growth in this market is due largely to the efforts of our strong network of value-added partners and service providers in the aviation industry worldwide.”

Iridium and its sales partners signed a number of large accounts this year, highlighted by a deal with fractional provider NetJets to add Iridium phone systems to its jets.