The Airbus A330-300 that will be delivered to Oman Air on 27 November is special for a number of reasons.
The aircraft, MSN1063, will boast Thales IFE and outrageous first class "mini-suites" (outrageous in a good way, see above). But it will also be the first commercial widebody to go into service with Airbus' ALNA v2 platform over Inmarsat's higher-bandwidth SwiftBroadband aeronautical service (providing GSM/GPRS plus WLAN via OnAir).
Does that sound like Greek? Let me clarify. Oman's next A330 will be the most highly connected international widebody in operation today.
Now that's special.
"This is another milestone for SwiftBroadband. Not only is this the first deployment of OnAir on a widebody, it's also the first line fit installation of SwiftBroadband on a widebody airliner," says Lars Ringertz, Inmarsat's head of marketing aeronautical business.
For a solid break-down of the ALNA v2 solution, which was recently tested on an A340 (MSN360), check out the IATA supplement that was handed out last week at WAEA.
And then take a gander at the type of cabins that business and coach class passengers can expect on Oman's new A330s. Connectivity and comfort (and IFE) go hand in hand in hand.
on October 13, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply
For such a premier and potentially world-leading products, it's a shame there are no further product images to be found on the internet at all.
Anyway, congratulations to Oman Air.
on October 13, 2009 4:27 PM | Reply
With regard to the first class "mini-suite" there isn't an arm rest (or some other form of barrier) in between the seats. Suppose you're seated next to someone you don't want touching you i.e. the vast majority of you humans on this planet, what happens then? Am I to simply put up with some vile creature rubbing up against me?!
on October 14, 2009 6:54 AM | Reply
Dave
Understood, but imagine if you had a friend....
on October 14, 2009 6:56 AM | Reply
Dave
Understood, but imagine if you had a friend....
on October 14, 2009 7:01 AM | Reply
Dave, what you see in the image of the first class cabin, above, is a leather sofa at the front of the cabin, which allows for more relaxed and informal socialising. To the sides and behind the sofa are six spacious Mini Suites with, you will be please to hear, not only arms but also retractable privacy screens.
Having said that, I think you will find that vile creatures don't travel on Oman Air, and certainly not in First Class!!
on October 27, 2009 1:57 PM | Reply
While the people flying Oman Air are fine - the In-Flight magazine could well be called vile