British Air To Launch OnAir Service

British Airways plans to launch the OnAir inflight mobile communications service on its new twice daily, all business-class route from London City Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Passengers on the service will be able to stay connected during the flight using their own mobile phones or BlackBerry-type devices to send and receive text messages and emails, and to access the Internet. Access to the Internet also is possible from laptops fitted with GSM data cards.

Mobile OnAir uses the GSM/GPRS network for international mobile communications. OnAir, based in Geneva, also uses Inmarsat SwiftBroadband high-capacity services from Inmarsat 4th generation satellites.