Tuesday, June 26, 2007 |
News
Le Bourget, France — One of the last telephone-free environments on the planet, the airplane, is about to be connected, allowing travellers to make mobile phone calls at high altitude.
Requests to switch off cellphones and fasten seatbelts are a familiar part of the takeoff routine for airline passengers, but a European company has found a way to make dialling safe and link up people from above the clouds.
"Cabin connectivity is here and GSM phone use is both a technical and commercial reality," Chief Commercial Officer of OnAir,
His company, a joint venture between European plane maker Airbus and airline IT group Sita, received a green light from the European Aviation Safety Agency on Monday to begin fitting equipment to commercial jets.
The technology is to be operated by an Air France plane for the first time in September this year and will then roll out across the world, with low-cost operators Ireland-based Ryanair and
"It’s the first time anywhere in the world that a system has been authorized and confirmed for the safe operation of phones and BlackBerry-type devices on aircraft," Mr. Lake said.
The expansion timetable means European consumers will be the first to be able to use the technology with Air
Approval from a handful of national telecommunication regulators are the final hurdles, Mr. Lake said.
"What we are confident of now is that we’ll have pan-European approval to operate before the end of 2007," he added.
Some companies in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are expected to begin installing the OnAir equipment in 2008, but the more complicated markets of
AirAsia, which flies throughout Southeast Asia and is planning to launch long haul services, is an early adopter and has signed a deal with OnAir to equip is new fleet of 150 Airbus A320s.
All planes are to be equipped by 2013, with the first connected aircraft serving routes in the next 18 months to two years.
"One wouldn’t necessarily want to be seated next to someone who talked for the whole flight," Mr. Lake said. "But the cabin crew will have control over the system. If an aircraft is flying overnight, they can decide to deactivate it, for example."
The service can be shut down to prevent calls, or partially deactivated to allow only text messages or BlackBerry use.
For technical reasons, it will only be available above 3,000 meters (9,000 feet), which is achieved four minutes after take off and maintained until 10 minutes before landing.
"We firmly believe that offering our clients the ability to communicate during flight is vital in this era of information technology," said Kamarudin Meranun, deputy chief executive of the group.
If a sense of consideration for fellow passengers does not promote respectful phone use, then the connection price is likely to compel all but the wealthiest travelers to make calls with moderation.
Mr. Lake believes the average price will be about 2.50 dollars per minute for calls and about 50 cents per SMS message.
The revenue will be split three ways between OnAir, the user’s mobile phone operator and, crucially, the airline itself.
The contribution to the airline makes the idea of the technology particularly appealing to low-cost operators, whose businesses are based on generating cash from sources other than ticket sales.
"We think it will be very popular with low-cost airlines and the example of Ryanair taking the lead is very telling," said Mr. Lake.
"What those airlines are looking for is ancillary revenues so they can drive their fares down and stay competitive."
An aerospace analyst for ratings agency Standard and Poor’s, Leigh Bailey, believes there is a fine line to tread between offering the convenience of a mobile phone service and the inconvenience of the resulting noise.
"It offers potential ancillary revenues but on the other hand you have to balance this with the risk that it could annoy other travelers and could cause them to turn away from air travel," Mr. Bailey said.
Mr. Lake believes that another two or three operators will enter the market to supply high-altitude telecom equipment in the coming years, meaning phone calls on planes could become commonplace.
He also had a surprising revelation: mobile phones are not really much of a danger for planes after all.
Research by OnAir shows that about 10 percent of people forget to turn their phones off during flights, despite repeated warnings by cabin crew before take off.
"It is quite normal that people forget to turn their phones off from time to time. If there was any profound safety issue then it would have manifested itself already." — AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment