bmi trials inflight texts and emails

[December 15th 2008]

Airline bmi is to trial an inflight communications service on flights between Heathrow and Moscow.

bmi, the second biggest airline at Heathrow, says it is the first British airline to offer passengers the opportunity to use SMS-enabled mobile phones and PDAs during their flight. Passengers with laptop computers fitted with GSM data cards will also be able to access the internet and email.

The six month trial will be confined to a single Airbus A320 aircraft flying between Heathrow and Moscow. The UK launch of the inflight communications service follows the granting of telecommunications regulatory approval by Ofcom.

The communications technology is being supplied by OnAir and uses the latest satellite communications from Inmarsat, Swift Broadband, for high speed air-to-ground communications.

“We are delighted to be working with OnAir to make this service available to customers. It opens up an exciting new era of travellers being able to stay in touch by text message and email whilst in the air,” says bmi managing director, Peter Spencer.

“Our research tells us that our business passengers in particular have two key concerns – getting through the airport quickly and being able to carry on working during their journey, so we’re confident that many will warmly welcome this service,” Spencer continues.

Other trials of mobile phones on planes have been met with a mixed response. Some travellers have complained about the noise pollution caused by passengers using mobile phones. Perhaps taking heed of this, bmi has decided not to offer voice calls at this stage.

“The trial will help us address some of the social and etiquette issues regarding the use of mobile communications devices inflight and provide valuable customer feedback which will be at the heart of deciding how the service is developed and rolled out across the remainder of our mid haul fleet. We have chosen not to implement the voice call option as part of the trial,” explains Spencer.

Mobile OnAir is now flying with two airlines in Europe and has already flown to 53 cities in 24 countries in Europe and North Africa.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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