Oman Air Launches Full Mobile Phone & WiFi Connectivity

[mcgillianaire]

You don't normally associate Oman with firsts but there's always a first for everything! Next month Oman Air, the Sultanate's national carrier, is to become the first airline to offer full in-flight access to mobile phone and internet via WiFi. And it's not just for First or Business class, but also for us plebs in Economy. It's all thanks to the EU's approval to in-flight mobile phone calls in April 2008 and the new Airbus ALNA V2 system using Honeywell's SwiftBroadband (SBB) solution. But the system has only been installed onto Oman Air's A330 fleet which assumes special significance for me because later this summer, I will be flying non-stop between Heathrow and Muscat on those exact aircraft! And what's more, the connectivity follows the introduction of Oman Air's latest in-flight entertainment system that offers four channels of live TV, audio-video on-demand, an iPod connection and USB ports. So not only is it the only airline to fly non-stop between London and Muscat, but it has live TV, USB* and WiFi connectivity. Oman a global leader. The mind boggles.

LINKS:
-Oman Air launches onboard phone and Wi-Fi (Arabian Supply Chain)
-Airline offers in-flight mobile and Wi-Fi (WebUser.co.uk)
-Oman Air launches full mobile phone and wifi connectivity (Global Arab Network)
-Oman Air to roll out mobile phone and Wi-Fi connectivity on new Airbus A330 aircraft (TMCnet.com)

(* Though, I did first experience an USB port and electric socket in Economy on an Emirates A380 aircraft last month. That was sweet!)

Comments

[swimanubis.livejournal.com]

shouldn't mobile phone connectivity go in the cons column? unless of course your idea of fun is listening to six hours of your neighbor's loud cell phone conversations?

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Yes, very good point which is probably why the airline's original press release must've contained the following word-for-word excerpt, because all four articles have copied it into theirs:

"Availability of the service will be controlled by the crew to ensure a minimum of disturbance to passengers during, for example, the quietest periods of overnight flights."

I got so caught up with the idea of using my iPhone for eight hours online, alongwith the two hours to the airport and the two hours at the airport that I forgot to think of this very real possibility. And my flight to Oman is right through the night. Nothing worse than a bunch of loud mouthed Asians... though if they're speaking in Tamil it gives me a chance to catchup on all the words I've forgotten over the Winter and Spring!

[swimanubis.livejournal.com]

I don't usually read articles because most of them are 5 paragraph hollow shells that leave you none the wiser then when you read the headline. this time, it appears to have not worked for me.

never hurts to brush up on your Tamil. I should have learned some in Malaysia.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

:) How's the Norwegian going?

[messicat.livejournal.com]

We're living in the future! That's very impressive! I love USB!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

We certainly are!

[brinker.livejournal.com]

That's impressive.

I flew Oman Air last eid going to Cambodia (well, I flew them to Bangkok at least) and was really impressed...

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Yeh, they've got a new-ish CEO who's pretty ambitious. I think Oman Air are aware of their limitations and are making the most of what they've got. They'll never be able to compete with Emirate, Etihad or Qatar Airways so they could focus on other things, I suppose.

[brinker.livejournal.com]

Makes sense, and I hope so as well.