Kingfisher Airlines has tied up with OnAir to provide Internet and Mobile connectivity on its long haul flights. This was announced at the Aircraft Interiors Expo Asia today in Hong Kong. Don’t get too ecstatic yet. The full fledged Internet and Mobile services won’t be available until 2009. A much toned down email facility may be available a bit earlier in 2008.

The service is based on an on board server, and is connected to the ground infrastructure through SwiftBroadband, Inmarsat’s broadband satellite infrastructure.

Fees will be based on data download for Internet usage, and per flight for webmail and instant messaging, and for Mobile OnAir the cost will be similar to international roaming rates, with passengers being billed by their operator on their regular bill. My gut instinct says it will be prohibitively expensive, more suited for the business class travelers.

OnAir was incorporated in February 2005 and is owned by Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer.

Hitesh Patel, Executive Vice President, Kingfisher Airlines, said, “We pride ourselves on our high levels of service, including state-of-the-art inflight entertainment and Live TV at every seat. Being the first, not just in India but also in the world, to offer our guests all of OnAir’s communications services, is truly a great opportunity.” Do note that Kingfisher is NOT the first in the world to provide Internet on flights. Just the first in the world to offer OnAir’s services

Source: Blognation