Airbus has joined forces with Sita and Tenzing to create a company that will be established by October to compete against Boeing's Connexion arm in the in-flight broadband communications market.
The partners in the yet to be named company are confident that they will be able to make in-flight use of mobile telephones by passengers available by early 2006. Internet capability and virtual private network access - a secure link to a corporate network via the internet - for passengers on board aircraft should be available in around a year.
"Sita will have the majority [stake in the new venture]...in the region of 60%," says Sita managing director Francesco Violante. "We are planning to incorporate the new company, which will probably be headquartered in Europe, by the end of October."
The other two partners will hold the remaining shares - Airbus already has a 30% stake in Tenzing.
Source: Flight International
