British Airways to Allow Mobile Phones on Business Flights

UK based airline, British Airways has announced plans to allow the use of mobile phones on one of its routes from London to New York. In addition to normal mobile phone use, internet access will also be possible from laptops fitted with GSM data cards. OnAir is providing the in-plane equipment to launch the service.

Airlines equipped with OnAir services can choose to provide voice and data or data services only, depending on time of the day and passenger preferences.

In its public statement Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive said: "This is a great service for our customers whom we know want to do business in the air or simply stay in touch via email or text. It's a perfect fit for our new business class only services from London City airport to JFK which we will launch later this year." British Airways passengers will benefit from high-speed connectivity delivered through OnAir's advanced mobile communications technology. Mobile OnAir uses the GSM/GPRS network, the world's most widely used and extensive network for international mobile communications. OnAir is also the only existing commercial inflight communications provider to use Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, high capacity services from Inmarsat 4th generation satellites.

A growing number of commercial airlines either currently offer OnAir inflight communications services or plan to offer them in the near future. These include Air Asia, Airblue, bmi, Jazeera Airways, Kingfisher, Oman Air, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, Shenzhen Airlines, TAM, TAP and Wataniya Airways. OnAir also serves private VIP and Governmental customers through partnerships with Airbus Corporate Jets, Aviation Centre Cologne and Jet Aviation.

Since December 2007, Mobile OnAir services have been used on flights to more than 54 cities in 25 countries in Europe and the Middle East, and will soon be in use in Asia and in Latin America.

Posted to the site on 27th January 2009