Starting September 1, owners and operators of Brazil-based aircraft equipped with suitable Garmin avionics will be able to get streamlined access to Iridium satellite communications services using Garmin Connext. The new service is available under an arrangement announced by Satcom Direct here at the LABACE show this week.

Satcom Direct (Booth 3005) said that through its Brazilian subsidiary, São Paulo-based Satcom Direct Comunicações, it will be able to add the capability to customers’ existing services. This will “add value to their existing service and simplify billing to adhere to the local regulations,” said the company in a statement. “New features from Satcom Direct will allow operators to enhance the functionality their Garmin Connext-enabled avionics,” said Satcom Direct founder and president Jim Jensen.

The new features include Global One Number, which allows callers on the ground to reach any handset on an aircraft in-flight by dialing a local Brazilian telephone number, no matter where the aircraft is located; and SD Flight Tracker, a global flight tracking solution using position reports from the Garmin Iridium system to display real-time aircraft location with Satcom Direct’s mapping technology.