Aircraft Interiors, Hamburg | April 9, 2014– Kuwait Airways became the tenth Middle East customer to choose OnAir as its connectivity provider, for 12 new aircraft as part of its privatization and complete fleet upgrade. The airline has ordered five A330s and seven A320s, all of which will be line fitted with Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir. The first A320 and first A330 will be delivered in December 2014 and May 2015 respectively.
OnAir is now the pre-eminent provider in the Middle East, which is fast emerging as the leading region in the world for inflight connectivity. This was recognised at Aircraft Interiors Middle East show where OnAir was named Best Connectivity Provider at the Inflight IFEC Awards.
Established in 1954, Kuwait Airways is an international airline flying routes all over the world, needing connectivity coverage wherever it flies. OnAir connectivity uses Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband global network. Alongside its widespread regulatory coverage, this means OnAir can provide Kuwait Airways’ passengers the same level of service on all of KAC’s network.
Kuwait chose to line fit its new aircraft with Airbus’ ALNAv2 network architecture. This line fitting option is affordable and does not require any additional antennae.
“OnAir was the right offering for us,” said Rasha Al-Roumi – Kuwait Airways Chairperson. “On top of the proven SwiftBroadband service which is available line fit on our new aircraft now, OnAir has GX Aviation capability waiting in the wings. We can offer passengers the connectivity they expect from a leading airline, as well as formulate a plan for the easy transfer to GX Aviation when it is available.”
OnAir’s SwiftBroadband solution has a clear deployment path to GX Aviation, Inmarsat’s imminent high speed network. OnAir’s service is ready for the next major step in inflight connectivity.
“Kuwait Airways chose OnAir because of our proven credentials in the Middle East market,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “Only we can deliver the consistent global coverage that passengers want, so they can stay in touch with the family, friends and colleagues throughout their journey.”
Inflight connectivity is about getting data to and from a passenger’s laptop, or getting their voice to the right ear, wherever that might be. The technology behind it may not be interesting to passengers, but it is technological developments, such as TriaGnoSys’ new GSM roaming solution, that drive increased efficiencies, reduce costs and thereby enable airlines to offer more connectivity to more people.”