Air-to-ground connectivity provider Gogo has closed on the previously announced $400 million cash sale of its commercial aviation business to Intelsat to focus exclusively on business aviation. The Broomfield, Colorado-based company will continue to be publicly traded and will use the proceeds of the sale to reduce its net debt and invest in its growth products such as Gogo 5G.

“The completion of the sale of our [commercial aviation] business to Intelsat marks the beginning of a new chapter for Gogo; we are a leader in business aviation and now turn our singular focus toward serving that attractive market,” said Gogo president and CEO Oakleigh Thorne. “Our business aviation division has proven resilient in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the number of business aircraft online today has nearly returned to January levels.”

According to Gogo, there are more than 1,500 business aircraft flying with its Avance L5 or L3 airborne connectivity systems installed.  At the end of September, Gogo reported 5,577 aircraft were flying with its air-to-ground systems onboard and 4,737 aircraft were flying with satcom installed.