Though its first aircraft is yet to fly, Wataniya Airways, a new Kuwait-based luxury airline, has signed a contract with OnAir to provide inflight connectivity on its fleet of Airbus A320s.
The service enables passengers to make voice calls and text messages on their mobile phones or BlackBerry-type devices, as well as connect to the internet on their laptops using GSM data cards. Costs will be based on rates similar to overseas roaming charges and added to the customer’s phone bill.
“Passengers travelling with Wataniya Airways can expect to be able to stay in touch as they fly both for business and personal reasons,” said George Cooper, CEO of the soon-to-be launched carrier. He claimed they would be the first in the Middle East to use swift broadband.
The airline, whose parent company is Kuwait National Airways, will begin a twice-daily service to Dubai next February.
Currently, OnAir works with AirAsia, Shenzhen Airlines and Kingfisher among others.
He Ruiming
