Strengthening its network in the Asia Pacific region, Satcom Direct (SD) is opening an office in Singapore. It will be the base for the newly appointed regional director for Asia Pacific, Brian Roos, and the newly named regional sales manager, Kaviraj (Kavi) Nadarajah.
Reporting directly to Michael Skou Christensen, senior vice president at SD International, Roos is responsible for establishing the SD presence in Singapore and executing SD’s ongoing strategic developments across the Asia Pacific region. This includes identifying new markets; adding to the customer portfolio; consolidating existing and new MRO relationships; building new partnerships; and introducing established and new SD products and services to the market; as well as ensuring continued delivery of customer support.
“Stretching from China to New Zealand, the Asia Pacific region has always been an important market for SD, and still holds great potential for us,” said Roos. “It is a buoyant area where the business aviation fleet continues to evolve, the number of high-net-worth individuals is increasing, and the appetite for technology solutions to improve the user and owner experience is unparalleled globally. The appointment of Kavi enhances our support for regional operators and owners who are optimising customised connectivity solutions to manage their data to meet their diverse mission needs. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bolster SD’s footprint here.”
Roos will also be responsible for advocating the benefits of the SD connectivity ecosystem of hardware, software and infrastructure, as well as the introduction of SD Plane Simple antenna systems.
FAA and EASA STCs were confirmed in March 2022 for the Plane Simple Ku-band tail-mount antenna for specified Gulfstream and Bombardier airframes. Following this, and the anticipated confirmation of relevant STCs across Asia, top of Roos’ priority list will be to showcase the benefits of the first variant, which is powered by the multi-layered Intelsat FlexExec service. The company said the Plane Simple Ku-band variant is on track to enter commercial service in the third quarter of 2022.
With some 20 years of experience in aviation, Roos has held various positions within the commercial and private sectors, including in airport operations, customer service, flight operations, flight support and charter management. Roos spent five years working with start-up operators and flight support companies in the Middle East and Africa region before joining SD. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, he is also a licensed international flight dispatcher.
Nadarajah will work closely with Roos, overseeing the north and southeast Asian customer base. His previous experience includes roles for Hawker Pacific and Jet Aviation, after beginning his 18-year aviation career as a dispatcher for commercial airlines. He is eager to bring his passion for customer service to the SD community. “I am extremely excited to be a part of the new Singapore office team,” said Nadarajah. “The sky is not the limit for our services and I look forward to engaging with our customers to help them make the most out of the SD product and service portfolio.”
