Royal Jordanian first Middle Eastern airline to offer OnAir mobile and Internet services

Dubai: Royal Jordanian and OnAir signed an agreement whereby RJ, a oneworld member, will provide passengers with OnAir's in-flight Internet and mobile phone services, including email, SMS and voice calls, making it the first airline in the Middle East to offer such facility.

President/CEO Samer Majali, who signed the agreement with OnAir CEO Benois Debains, said that the OnAir service will enable Royal Jordanian passengers to use their mobile phones and BlackBerry-type devices to send and receive text messages and emails, and to make and receive mobile phone calls in flight, as well as to use their laptops to access Internet.

He indicated that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) granted airworthiness certification to OnAir, testifying that neither Mobile OnAir system nor multiple mobiles cause harmful interference to any of the aircraft's avionics systems.

Majali pointed out that phase one of the agreement stipulates installing the system by the Airbus company in two Airbus A319 that will be joining the fleet in February and March next year. The second phase of the agreement includes implementing the Mobile OnAir Service on the airline's single-aisle A320 family, installed with a standalone GSM/GPRS system at the end of 2009.

Passengers will be able to use their own mobile phones during flights, above 3,000 meters, whereas during take offs and landings, the service will not be operative.

OnAir was incorporated in February 2005 and is owned by Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive product line on the market, and SITA, the world-leading provider of air transport focused applications, communications and IT infrastructure.