June/July 2007

Three European airlines are to run single-aircraft trials of on-board mobile phones using the OnAir system, which has been developed by Airbus and SITA, a communications specialist. They are Air France, BMI and TAP of Portugal, all of which will be installing the equipment in Airbus aircraft.

The OnAir mobile telephony service will allow passengers to use BlackBerry-type devices and mobile phones during flights to make and receive calls and send and receive emails and text messages.

The airborne GSM system behind the service has now gained certification from the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) for use on the 318 wide-bodied jet aircraft, opening the way to trials and full deployment.

The first fleet deployment of OnAir's services is expected to be on Ryanair's Boeing 737 aircraft.