SITAONAIR is a company that enables

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

passengers to use their smart devices including

mobile phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

and

laptops A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

for calls, text messaging, emails and Internet browsing. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of

SITA Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

, originally incorporated as OnAir as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

in February 2005. In February 2013, Airbus sold its 33% final stake to SITA. The company is headquartered in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and sales offices in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

Services

SITAONAIR offers services which aircraft operators can use together or separately: * Flight Operations or

Flight planning Flight planning is the process of producing a flight plan to describe a proposed aircraft flight. It involves two safety-critical aspects: fuel calculation, to ensure that the aircraft can safely reach the destination, and compliance with air tr ...

is the process of producing a

flight plan Flight plans are documents filed by a pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g. the FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned route or flight path. Flight plan forma ...

to describe a proposed aircraft flight. *Internet OnAir is a Wi-Fi network which offers Internet access at broadband speed to passengers. *Mobile OnAir is a cellphone service which offers mobile telephony, SMS and narrowband Internet access (56 kbit/s) and so allows passengers to make and receive calls on their mobile phones, send and receive text messages and emails and use the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

. Airlines can restrict usage of these services at discretion enabling them to ban voice calls and allow only SMS and Internet access instead.

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...

is one airline following this restrictive approach due to passengers' alleged desire for quietness during flights. *Link OnAir is a managed network service that allows airlines to use the IP-based satellite connection used by the aforementioned services for other applications, such as supplying in-flight entertainment systems with news content or Internet access and providing mission-critical information and communication services to air crews. *OnAir Play' combines inflight connectivity with films, TV, live news, music, games, magazines and newspapers. Passengers have access to a full range of content including live news and sport, updated throughout the flight and can buy destination-based goods and services to ease their arrival. All three services share the same satellite connection to the ground. SITAONAIR (then OnAir) was the first company to provide integrated

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

and inflight wifi services, with

Oman Air Oman Air ( ar, الطيران العماني) is the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman. Based at Muscat International Airport in Seeb, Muscat, it operates domestic and international passenger services, as well as regional air taxi a ...

as the launch airline in March 2010. SITAONAIR’s technology has been certified for use on many types of aircraft – both private and commercial jets including

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

and

– for short and long haul. In most cases, it is available for linefit or retrofit.

Inmarsat SwiftBroadband (L band)

A satellite data unit (SDU) manufactured by

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...

and branded ''TopConnect'' establishes a backhaul link to the ground through Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one s ...

operating in the

L band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

around 1500 MHz which allows the use of electronically steerable antennas mounted atop the aircraft fuselage and encased within a fiberglass, RF-transparent radome that have a low profile compared to systems operating in the K_u band or K_a band which today still require mechanically steerable antennas with a significantly higher profile. Thus drag and fuel costs are reduced allowing economical operation even on smaller aircraft like business or regional jets. Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband system covers much of the planet except for the polar regions above −82 and below +82 degrees latitude and currently provides symmetric data rates of up to 432 kbit/s per channel dependent on signal quality and overall load on the satellite's spotbeam serving the corresponding geographical area. Currently the Thales SDU can bond two channels resulting in a maximum bandwidth of 864 kbit/s.

Inmarsat GlobalXpress (K_a band)

SITAONAIR was appointed as distribution partner for Inmarsat's Global Xpress service in November 2011.

References

Bibliography

OnAir Confirms Appointment Of Dawkins As CEO Jun. 2010

European 25 Most Creative Companies July 2010

* ttp://www.flightglobal.com/channels/finance/articles/2010/09/16/347400/interiors-onair-seeks-new-ties-for-qatar-787-deal.html Interiors: OnAir Seeks New Ties For Qatar 787 Deal Sep. 2010
Singapore To Equip A380s, 777s With Internet Access Oct. 2010

* ttps://www.forbes.com/2010/11/24/forbes-india-airlines-presurred-allow-mobile-phone-use.html Upwardly Mobile Nov. 2010
OnAir Wins Aviation Business Award At Middle East Ceremony Dec. 2010

* ttp://www.hmgaerospace.com/news/show/1698 OnAir Increases Connectivity with TAM Feb 2011
TAM Expands Deal To Fit OnAir Connectivity To Airbus Feb 2011

* ttp://www.fly-corporate.com/content_news.php?mynews=3088 Lightweight inflight connectivity solution launched May 2011
Singapore Airlines Economy-class innovation: Improved in-seat entertainment, Aug. 2011

* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/6244598/British-Airways-all-business-class-service-to-NY-to-be-profitable-within-a-year.html British Airways' all-business class service to NY 'to be profitable within a year', Sep 2011]
British Airways' Business-Only Flights to New York Make Their Mark After two Years, Oct 2011Aviation Week, Airbus To Line-Fit OnAir On Emirates A380 Dec 2011Inmarsat set to further tap potentials of ME segments, Jan 2012

ttp://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3335357/voice-video-calls-via-wi-fi-from-30000-feet/ Voice and video calls via Wi-Fi from 30,000 feet?, Feb 2012
THAI Airways selects OnAir in-flight connectivity on new fleet, March 2012OnAir targets first Global Xpress commitments, March 2012
* ttp://www.airtransportnews.aero/article.pl?categ=&id=35780 First deployment of OnAir/TriaGnoSys inflight connectivity solution through Scandinavian Avionics, March 2012br>Why airlines have been slow to add Wi-Fi to intercontinental flights, March 2012Hands-on review: Qantas' A380 in-flight wifi Internet trials, March 2012TAM e Oi reduzem em 50% as tarifas para celular a bordo March 2012Thai Airways to launch inflight Internet on new Airbus A380s, March 2012
* ttp://www.aerolatinnews.com/index.php?sector=noticias_sec¬icia=28345 TAM Airlines se ratifica como la compañía con la mayor flota de aviones de Brasil Jan 2012br>Singapore Airlines Airbus A380s get inflight Internet April 2012Teddies to trinkets, airlines eye sales in the sky June 2012

Garuda Indonesia plans inflight Wi-Fi for Australia flights

OnAir backs FCC proposal to end US ban on inflight cell phone use

Qatar DOES want broadband after all

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onair Companies based in Geneva Companies established in 2005 Travel technology Satellite Internet access