Qatar Airways’ Airbus A350 and A380 fleets will
be line-fitted with both Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir.
The move comes after Qatar Airways has been operating OnAir’s
GSM on its A320s for over three years.
In total, over 150 Qatar
Airways’ aircraft will have OnAir connectivity, including its
Boeing 787s.
Qatar Airways’ passengers have the choice of
using either the GSM network or Wi-Fi. They can use their mobile
phones and tablets for calls, texting, emailing, updating social
media and surfing the Internet. It is very simple to use, with
billing working in exactly the same way as international roaming.
They can also access the internet using any Wi-Fi enabled device.
“We have been operating Mobile OnAir for more than three years
on some of our aircraft and it's clear that our passengers want,
and are coming to expect, inflight connectivity,” said
Akbar Al
Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways. “We have
seen high levels of usage of the OnAir services on flights to and
from Europe, as well as on regional flights. The pattern emerging
is that business travellers typically use mobile data, for example
for email and reading the news. Leisure passengers are more likely
to send text messages or update twitter and Facebook accounts.”
The airline currently has orders for 13 Airbus
A380s, including options, with deliveries starting in 2014. The
airline also has orders for 80 A350s.
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