Qantas to Introduce Connectivity on Domestic Fleet

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About Qantas - Newsroom

Qantas announced today it would roll out new technology on its domestic aircraft from late 2008 to allow customers to send and receive email and SMS via mobile phone or personal electronic device.

Qantas Executive General Manager, Mr John Borghetti, said the airline had lead the industry in evaluating the technology on a B767-300 aircraft between April 2007 and January 2008.

 

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In a similar vein...

[SIZE=+0][SIZE=+0]In-flight email, SMS coming to Qantas[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]25 March 2008 I Sydney Morning Herald I Asher Moses [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Domestic travellers flying Qantas will soon be able to send SMS messages and emails while in the air, but voice calls are off limits for now.Qantas has committed to implementing the technology following a trial on one of its domestic 767 planes, which ran from April last year to January this year.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Vanessa Hudson, general manager of Qantas products and services, said the first of its 767 and A330 domestic fleets would be equipped with mobile phone connectivity in November or December this year."Our goal is to introduce it progressively and we're currently working through those details at the moment but our goal would be by the end of 2009 to have 50 per cent of our wide-bodied fleets with the technology enabled," Hudson said.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Although the technology also supports in-flight voice calls, Qantas has decided to disable it, saying feedback from customers during the trial showed that people only wanted SMS and email connectivity.Hudson said Qantas was "evaluating" whether to offer the SMS and email feature on international flights."Particularly with the domestic market and the distances that the domestic travelling market fly, the in-flight experience is a really significant part of their working day," she said."A lot of people fly up and back to Melbourne within a day and they want to be connected during the flight."Hudson said [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Qantas would not be charging people to use their mobile in the air but any communication done while flying was considered international by mobile carriers, so prices for each message would vary.A global roaming account and a GSM phone is required to send SMS messages, while emailing requires a GRPS-enabled device such as a BlackBerry or a laptop with built-in wireless broadband. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Qantas is one of the first carriers in the world to commit to rolling out in-flight mobile phone services outside of small trials. However, Emirates this week went one step further than Qantas by allowing customers to make voice calls. Emirates has already installed the technology in one of its Airbus A340 planes and the first in-flight call was made during a flight between Dubai and Casablanca. BBC News reported that Emirates planned to expand the system to more aircraft later this year.The technology, built by the same company that supplied Qantas, AeroMobile, can be configured to switch off voice calls at certain times such as on night flights or when the plane is not at cruising altitude.
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[Actualise]

Qantas might not be charging but because of the exorbitant prices charged for using global roaming, and probably this will apply for these Inmarsat L-band satellite services that connect the pico-cell in the plane to the mobile networks. It is much like using other satellite phone services.

You can bet Qantas will get a kick back at best if not real revenue from the operator... of course the price is not their problem (sure thing).

Cheers,
Andrew.

 

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Thank God for small mercies - no voice calls

Watching Mr or Mrs Imsoimportant using the blackberry well after the doors are closed does my head in. It's like an addiction and these same people would be on the phone the whole flight if allowed as well

I think email access only should be allowed - can you imagine what it would be like with a school trip of Year 10's behind you from MEL to BNE with the 400 different SMS noticications! :!:

Geeez.... the world will still go around without inflight calls and SMS - I think the email gets a thumbs up, everything else a double thumbs down...:shock:

Qantas, 10 out of 10 for style, minus several thousand for good thinking... :shock:

Mr!