Philippine Airlines has signed a deal with global IT solutions provider On Air to provide inflight connectivity to passengers, including GSM and wifi Internet that incorporate capabilities to call, text, tweet, email and surf the internet on flights around Asia-Pacific and to Australasia and the US.
The mobile and internet functions will be retrofitted on PAL’s Airbus A330-343 and Boeing B777-300ER aircraft starting next month, with the service set to be launched from mid-year.
The costs of using the connectivity functions will be charged to users' phone bills, as with international roaming. On Air’s coverage is provided through roaming agreements with some 350 mobile network operators around the world, as well as Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network.
Last year, Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific announced that it would begin to offer inflight connectivity, also through On Air, on new aircraft delivered in 2013 and 2014 (see story), but it seems that PAL is determined to beat its competitor to the game and become the first in the archipelago to do so.
On Air serves some 50 customers with its inflight connectivity technology, including ANA (see story), Qatar Airways (see story), Singapore Airlines (see story) and Thai Airways (see story).
Visit www1.philippineairlines.com
Reggie Ho
