Singapore Airlines' (SIA) passengers will soon enjoy a full suite of inflight connectivity services, provided by OnAir and powered by Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband.
The innovation will be introduced from as early as the first half of 2011, and progressively on flights operated by SIA's Airbus A380, Airbus A340-500 and Boeing B777-300ER aircraft.
The multimillion-dollar collaboration with OnAir includes a full suite of onboard communication offerings, allowing customers access to Wi-Fi internet and mobile telephony services.
The new inflight service will enable customers to send and receive SMS text messages with their GSM-compatible mobile phones, send and receive email messages easily on smartphones and BlackBerry devices, and make and receive voice calls.
"Unlike the earlier trial introduction of an Internet service, this suite of features is for full implementation, and we are pleased to offer this as an added choice to our inflight programme," said Yap Kim Wah, SIA's senior vice-president, product and services.
Singapore Airlines' connectivity partner OnAir has roaming agreements with about 200 mobile network operators globally, including the three main
operators in Singapore.
Customers, who use the mobile telephony services, will see their usage reflected in the monthly bills from their home mobile phone operator where international GSM roaming rates apply. For internet access, customers can sign up for an access package upon logging in to the system.
Details of the charges will be announced closer to the launch.
For more information, visit www.singaporeair.com and www.onair.aero
Margie T Logarta
