• Etihad Airways Airbus A380 flight installed with AeroMobile services

London | February 23, 2015– AeroMobile has celebrated the first Airbus A380 to be fully line-fitted with its inflight mobile phone network. The Etihad Airways A380-800 (A6-APA) aircraft’s inaugural flight with AeroMobile services was from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow, touching down on Friday 13 February 2015. This successful maiden flight paves the way for future A380s to be fitted with AeroMobile services.

The newly-connected aircraft accommodates 498 guests in total – 417 in Economy Class, 70 in Business Class, 9 in First Class and two in The Residence cabin.

Etihad Airways now has AeroMobile connectivity on 59 aircraft serving worldwide destinations from the Middle East. The AeroMobile service is also fitted to Etihad Airways’ Airbus A330-200, A330-300, A340-500 and A340-600 aircraft.

AeroMobile, a mobile network operator, enables airline passengers to roam inflight. The company provides technology and services that allow the safe use of passengers’ own mobile phones onboard aircraft.

AeroMobile’s inflight mobile services have proved incredibly popular with passengers since the first flight in March 2008. In fact, since launch over 23.6 million passengers have successfully connected to the network and 2014 saw a strong increase in the uptake of AeroMobile services from airlines and passengers, which reflects the needs of the modern traveler; to always be connected.
AeroMobile has roaming agreements with more than 285 operators in over 130 countries, including UAE operators Etisalat and Du and O2, EE, Three and Vodafone in the UK.

“It’s very exciting to kick off 2015 with our first AeroMobile-connected A380. With demand for inflight connectivity increasing year-on-year, we’re looking forward to continued momentum in installed aircraft and passenger demand in 2015.” Kevin Rogers, CEO of AeroMobile.

Mobile data and text messaging at 30,000ft prove a hit with Brits
Hamburg, Germany | April 9, 2014– British travellers are more likely to pick up their mobile phones inflight to send an email or browse the web than to make a call from the aircraft cabin.

More than three quarters of travellers surveyed by AeroMobile, a leading mobile phone operator for the aviation industry, said they would use mobile-enabled internet access to check emails, browse the internet or update their Facebook or Twitter status at 30,000ft.

More than half (55 per cent) would opt to send a text message and a quarter would use an instant messaging service, but fewer than a third (17 per cent) would make a call inflight.

Almost half of respondents said that inflight mobile services would help them alleviate the boredom of long hours spent in an aircraft cabin and over a third are looking to their own mobile devices to keep them entertained.

Almost half of people questioned said they expect inflight mobile connectivity to become standard in the next few years and over a third believe an airline with an inflight mobile service is cutting edge.

“The results of this survey certainly reflect our experience at AeroMobile,” said Kevin Rogers, CEO of AeroMobile.

“In 2013 we saw close to an 80 per cent increase in the number of travellers using their mobile phones in the aircraft cabin and data usage on our network went up ten-fold. We also saw a 50 per cent increase in SMS traffic.”

The AeroMobile network allows passengers to roam just as they would abroad. The company has live roaming agreements with over 250 mobile phone operators worldwide, including EE, O2, Vodafone and Three in the UK.

The service is available across eleven airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Etihad, Emirates and Lufthansa.

• Etihad Aviation Group to include Etihad Airways, the newly formed Hala Group including travel and tourism management and global loyalty companies, Etihad Airport Services, and Group support functions

• New executive appointments include Chief Operating Officer Etihad Airways; Chief Operating Officer Hala Group, and Chief Operating Officer Equity Partners who will oversee investments in other airlines

March 3, 2014– Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, today announced the next step in its long-term business strategy, with the creation of the Etihad Aviation Group, a new structure marking the transition from a single entity airline to a wider global aviation group.

The new Etihad Aviation Group structure, headed by James Hogan as Group President and Chief Executive Officer, distinguishes the functions relating purely to Etihad Airways and those required to interface with and support the growth and success of its subsidiaries, joint venture companies and equity partners.

Group President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said: “Ten years ago we started life as a small regional carrier, but with global ambitions. Since then we have grown to become one of the world’s leading passenger and cargo airlines, and have expanded and diversified our operations outside the core airline business laying the foundations to become one of the leading aviation and travel groups in the world.

“It is important that this exciting new approach and philosophy is reflected in the way we organise ourselves. The new Etihad Aviation Group structure reflects this diversification and is a natural development to deliver continued and sustainable success for Etihad Airways and its partners.”

A new position of Chief Operating Officer Etihad Airways has been created to oversee the day-to-day running of the core airline. Recruitment for this position is ongoing and the successful candidate will oversee the major areas of Marketing, Sales, Operations, Technical, Cargo, Flight Operations, Guest Services, Guest Experience, and Safety and Quality.

In addition to the core airline, the Etihad Aviation Group also includes a division to coordinate and manage Etihad’s investment in its equity airline partners, and a new role of Chief Operating Officer Equity Partners will be created within the new structure to ensure an ongoing interface between the airline and its equity partners.

The position will be responsible for leading the identification and realisation of synergy benefits across the equity alliance, as well as having direct responsibility for Air Seychelles and Air Serbia in which Etihad Airways has a management responsibility. Recruitment for this position is ongoing.

A key element in the new structure is the establishment of the Hala Group, led by Chief Operating Officer Hala Group, Peter Baumgartner, formerly Chief Commercial Officer Etihad Airways. The Hala Group has been formed recognising the airline’s commercial opportunities which have grown beyond air travel across a variety of travel and hospitality businesses.

The Hala Group will bring businesses together to drive commercial value for Etihad Airways, for Abu Dhabi and for the airline’s equity alliance partners. It combines travel management provided by Hala Travel Management, destination management services of Hala Abu Dhabi, the internationally expanding wholesale and tour operating business, Etihad Holidays, and other major start-up initiatives such as a new global loyalty company.

Functions providing support to the wider Etihad Aviation Group will continue to be led by James Rigney as Group Chief Financial Officer, Ray Gammell as Group Chief People and Performance Officer, and Kevin Knight as Group Chief Strategy and Planning Officer. There will also be a new position of Group Chief Technology Officer for which recruitment is also ongoing.

Mr Hogan added: “These are very exciting developments for our business and the strong team we have created in our new structure will greatly enhance and improve the way we work in harmony with our partner airlines and subsidiaries.

“It will ensure that we work more closely than ever before to maximise the tremendous opportunities and deliver a sustainably profitable future for Etihad Airways and wider Etihad Aviation Group members, while ensuring we meet ambitious targets relating to revenue, cost, and synergy benefits.”

– Inflight roaming with AeroMobile now available on all major UK networks

London, UK | July 24, 2013– AeroMobile, the leading inflight mobile phone operator, has confirmed EE as its latest roaming partner. The move gives EE’s 26 million* customers across the UK the option to use their own mobile phones inflight.

AeroMobile already has over 220 agreements with mobile phone operators around the world including O2, Three and Vodafone in the UK.

Now passengers using any of the UK’s main mobile operators can make calls, text or browse online at 30,000ft, simply by connecting to the AeroMobile network.

So far this year, more than 120,000 UK-based passengers have used the AeroMobile service, sending 175,000 text messages and making 25,000 calls.

The AeroMobile service is active on 150 aircraft across nine airlines including Emirates, Etihad, SAS and Virgin Atlantic. All Virgin Atlantic flights between the US and London Gatwick offer the AeroMobile service, as well as selected flights from Manchester and Heathrow. Many flights from the UK to Dubai with Emirates and Etihad’s services from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi also provide AeroMobile connectivity.

“Adding EE to our portfolio of roaming partners opens up inflight connectivity to even more UK passengers,” says Kevin Rogers, CEO of AeroMobile.

“EE joins the three other big operators in the UK in offering mobile customers the option to use their own phones inflight, and with more and more airlines offering the service, we expect to see increasing numbers of passengers opting to stay connected inflight. In fact, our research shows that 70 per cent of travellers would use their mobile inflight if they had the option.”

“So far this year, more than 7,000 flights have flown to or from the UK with the AeroMobile service onboard, and we’re adding more airlines and more routes every month,” continued Rogers.

Passengers who use the service are billed by their mobile phone operator, and prices vary depending on individual contracts. Prices are typically similar to ‘rest of world’ rates, or in some cases, lower.