In-flight mobile connectivity providers AeroMobile and OnAir have unveiled a string of new commitments during Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, after debuting the first voice calls using their respective services in the space of two weeks.
Emirates was the first to allow passengers to use their own mobiles to make voice calls using the AeroMobile system onboard an Airbus A340-300 last month, while on 2 April Air France widened its existing trial of the OnAir data services on board a single Airbus A318 to include voice calls.
Now Virgin Blue's new long-haul operation V Australia has opted for the AeroMobile service, becoming the first to sign up through the latter's partnership with in-flight entertainment systems provider Panasonic Avionics. It plans to offer the service from the outset of Boeing 777-300ER-operated flights this December. The services will initially be supported using Inmarsat's Swift64 satcom service, before its higher speed SwiftBroadband service is introduced in the Australasian and Pacific regions in 2009.
It marks the second Australian carrier to sign up for the AeroMobile service, after Qantas opted to roll-out in-flight mobile email and text messaging on domestic flights following trials last year.
Meanwhile, Kuwait budget carrier Jazeera Airways and Oman Air have both now selected OnAir's service, for use on their Airbus A320s and A330s respectively. The OnAir is supported using SwiftBroadband.
BMI's trial of the OnAir service should now go ahead in May after recent UK regulatory approval, while Ryanair - which plans to initially deploy the OnAir service on around 25 aircraft to give it enough critical mass to promote the service - is set to launch late in the second quarter once Irish regulatory approval is in place.
Source: Flight International
