Onair Terminates In Flight Phone Service With Ryanair

Onair Terminates In Flight Phone Service With Ryanair <

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Onair Terminates In Flight Phone Service With Ryanair By Bill Goldston

		March 30, 2010 - Ryanair, confirmed that OnAir, Ryanair’s in-flight phone service provider, has notified Ryanair of their intention to terminate the contract after 13 months proving period of service operations. Ryanair was pleased with the performance of the OnAir system and the rapidly growing call/text and data volumes, and had notified OnAir of its wish to roll the service out across the entire Ryanair fleet. OnAir were unwilling to commit to this expansion at this time, and exercised their right to terminate the agreement at the end of the 13 month proving period of service operation.

Following this successful experience with in-flight phone services, Ryanair will now invite other in-flight communications providers to tender for access to Ryanair’s 73 million annual passengers on Europe’s largest international scheduled airline. Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said “Ryanair regrets that OnAir were unwilling to commit to roll out its in-flight phone service to all Ryanair’s 230 plus aircraft fleet. As a result OnAir has decided to terminate its contract after a successful 13 month proving period of service operation. "We wish to thank OnAir for their help and support with this programme to date and wish them well for the future. Ryanair will now invite other in-flight communications providers to tender for access to Ryanair’s 73million passengers to develop a fleet wide in-flight phone service on the world’s No 1 international scheduled airline”. After operating the OnAir service on 50 of its aircraft for about a year, Ryanair wanted to expand deployment to its entire fleet. However the two companies did not reach a mutual agreement on the process and timing leading to the full deployment. Neither company can comment further on the terms of the agreement. “It's disappointing that OnAir and Ryanair couldn't reach agreement on the detail of a roll-out to their entire fleet, but our experience was extremely positive and we wish Ryanair every success in the future,” said Benoit Debains, CEO of OnAir. “OnAir remains fully committed to inflight connectivity. The company also serves long-range aircraft operators, VIP and governmental customers as well as cruise liners.''

OnAir currently operates with six airlines and has a portfolio of 23 signed agreements with national carriers worldwide. The company will also be launching its services with six more airlines during the course of this year. OnAir will be announcing very shortly new agreements with other carriers for both short range and long range aircraft as well as strategic partnerships with major mobile phone operators to enter new markets."

OnAir provides industry-leading, on-board connectivity solutions that enable passengers to stay connected while they travel, and airlines and shipping lines to differentiate themselves through offering distinct services to customers. Present aboard airlines on four of five continents, OnAir provides the only air-travel industry sponsored solution for commercial airlines, private and corporate jets, Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and for long and short-haul flights. OnAir is the only provider of services based on SwiftBroadband, the latest high-bandwidth satellite technology from Inmarsat, which offers GSM and GPRS for voice, data and Internet.

OnAir was incorporated in February 2005 and is owned by SITA, the leading IT solutions provider to the air transport world and Airbus, the leading aircraft manufacturer. OnAir is a member of the GSM Association and an Inmarsat Distribution Partner for SwiftBroadband services.

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