Geneva, 13 November 2014 – SriLankan Airlines’ first fully-connected A330-300 (registration 4R-ALL) entered commercial service on Sunday (9 November, 2014). It is equipped with both Internet OnAir and Mobile OnAir. This is an historic moment for SriLankan Airlines, with the national carrier launching a new era of world travel by providing its passengers a more luxurious on-board experience. Putting full inflight connectivity on the aircraft demonstrates the Airline’s growing commitment to redefining the flying experience.
Passengers on board the delivery flight from Toulouse to Colombo, including SriLankan Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer, G. T. Jeyaseelan, all made special mention of the aircraft’s inflight connectivity.
Once they’ve tweeted from 35,000 feet and told their friends on Facebook that they’re chatting to them live from an aircraft, passengers can knuckle down to send emails or simply continue to browse the web. The combination of Wi-Fi and mobile phone connectivity allows passengers to take a flight without missing a beat.
“We are gearing-up SriLankan to meet the challenges and ever-growing demands of the global travel industry,” said SriLankan Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer, G. T. Jeyaseelan. "Our new fleet is giving us the opportunity to introduce innovative products and services to enhance the passenger experience. Providing mobile phone and Internet connectivity is a very important element of our superior offering in a highly competitive market.”
Now in service, the aircraft will be deployed on different routes as part of the performance evaluation programme that will last for a period of three months. Consequently, SriLankan Airlines began commercial operations of its newly acquired Airbus 330-300 with a direct non-stop service to London on Sunday.
At the conclusion of the evaluation programme, the Airline will decide on a particular route for the new aircraft, based on passenger volumes, route yields, demand for Business Class, frequency and consistency of the product, as well as the number of aircraft required to support the frequencies to a particular destination. SriLankan is looking to deploy its new A330-300s primarily on Far-Eastern routes including Bangkok, Tokyo and Chinese cities of Canton and Beijing.
OnAir has an unrivalled number of roaming agreements with mobile network operators in the region. Therefore, passengers from both Sri Lanka and other countries can all access to the inflight mobile phone network throughout the flight.
“We provide inflight connectivity across the whole of Asia,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “Our unique network of roaming agreements and authorizations from national regulators means OnAir is the leading supplier in the region. We are delighted to be supporting SriLankan Airlines’ drive to break new ground in Sri Lankan aviation.”
About SriLankan Airlines
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier for Sri Lanka and the newest member of the oneworld alliance, is an award-winning airline with a firm reputation as a global leader in service, comfort, safety, reliability, and punctuality. Awards include World’s Friendliest Cabin Staff by Skytrax, Best Airline in South Asia from Travel Trade Gazette, World’s Most Reliable Operator of Airbus A330s and A340s by Airbus Industrie, and the Etihad Global Excellence Award for Best Regional Caterer. Launched in 1979, the airline's hubs are located at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, Hambantota providing convenient connections to its global network (including codeshare partners) of 89 destinations in 44 countries around the world. SriLankan has mutual code share services with Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada, Alitalia, Oman Air, Siberian Airlines, Finnair, Asiana Airlines and Mihin Lanka.
About OnAir
OnAir sets the benchmark for global inflight connectivity solutions, with over 60 customers on five continents. With more than 375 roaming agreements, we are the only provider to offer consistent global coverage, specifically designed for mobility, for both inflight cellular and Wi-Fi services.
OnAir’s products enable passengers to use their own mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and laptops in exactly the same way as they do on the ground, either through the onboard cellular network or the onboard Wi-Fi hotspot. OnAir also provides on-demand entertainment solutions, such as music, videos, newspapers and magazines with OnAir Play. The products are available as linefit or retrofit for all commercial aircraft, as well as government, VIP and business jets. OnAir products operate over all satellite links.
In addition, OnAir is leading the way in the development of the e-AircraftTM in conjunction with SITA, uniquely offering solutions to cater for all aspects of nose to tail connectivity. OnAir’s latest solutions have added another dimension to inflight connectivity to optimize it for operational usage by the cabin and cockpit crew, and for maintenance and aircraft health monitoring.
OnAir was incorporated in February 2005 and is owned by SITA, the leading IT solutions provider to the air transport world. OnAir is a member of the GSM Association and an Inmarsat Distribution Partner for both SBB and GX Aviation services.
More information about OnAir
