The first operator to offer OnAir's onboard mobile telephone and internet access will be European, according to chief executive George Cooper. European Commission regulatory approval for the company to be established was granted in January, which should pave the way for the first use of personal GSM mobile phones on board the aircraft of a short-haul European carrier in the third quarter of next year.
The introduction of broadband services will follow in the fourth quarter, and Cooper predicts that this will happen first with an Asian carrier. Europe and Asia are primary target markets, he says, although GSM mobile phone usage in the USA is rising fast.
Carriers will be able to order an OnAir installation as a standard option on new Airbus aircraft from 2006, but Cooper says early airlines signing up to offer the service will be able to request installation before that. He adds that first installation is likely to be a retrofit rather than on a new-build aircraft, and that the first model to be certificated to receive the installation will be the A320 family, with other Airbus models to follow during 2006.
The service was successfully tested on the ground and in flight during 2004 and OnAir is in the process of selecting suppliers for the different service components. Although Cooper is confident that services will be available on Boeing aircraft as well as those of OnAir stakeholder Airbus, he admits that talks with Boeing are not very advanced so far.
An announcement of launch customers will be made in the "not too distant future", he says.
OnAir is jointly owned by Airbus and SITA and has integrated Seattle-based in-flight communications provider Tenzing.
Source: Airline Business
