In-flight Communications

In-flight passenger communications provided by OnAir

Mobile phones, BlackBerry-type devices and the Internet are integral parts of most people’s lives. People want the option to use them when flying.

To make this a reality, the aviation and telecommunications industries are working together to provide passengers with services they want and expect at an affordable price.

SITA In-flight Communications allow passengers to remain in touch in the air, while providing airlines a new ancillary revenue source and a service differentiator.

SITA know-how

OnAir, jointly owned by SITA and Airbus, is the only airline industry-sponsored company offering full voice and data connectivity services in-flight for customers in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.

OnAir provides a complete inflight passenger communications service, including:

  • Robust hardware, designed and certified for the aircraft environment
  • Equipment installation on all types of Airbus and Boeing aircraft – both linefit and retrofit
  • Revenue management
  • Management of the interface between the airline, telecoms providers and the satellite provider
  • Quality of Service monitoring and support

Benefits

In-flight Communications enable airlines to give passengers what they want - the ability to communicate in the air in exactly the same way as they can on the ground.

That means providing:

  • The choice of staying in touch by phone, e-mail or text message
  • Access to Webmail and Webchat
  • Live broadband Internet access

Airlines can benefit in two ways:

  • OnAir’s passenger communications service is a source of ancillary revenue
  • Passenger communications can be used as a service differentiator as part of the In-flight entertainment (IFE) mix

Features

In-flight Communications include the following features.

  • Fully compliant with both air-worthiness and telecommunications regulations
  • Global System Mobile (GSM) for voice calls and text messages
  • General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) based e-mail
  • Wireless or wired local area network (LAN) for broadband Internet connectivity
  • Full operational control - the crew can turn the system off at any time, or the voice element can be disabled