Fast as you can say, Bob's your uncle, British Airways announced plans to launch OnAir’s inflight mobile communications service on its new twice daily, all business-class route from London City Airport to New York City’s JFK Airport. Passengers on this new service will be able to stay connected during the flight using their own mobile phones or BlackBerry-type devices to send and receive text messages and emails, and to access the Internet, which is also available from laptops fitted with GSM data cards. Airlines equipped with OnAir services can choose to provide voice and data or data services only, depending on time of the day and passenger preferences.

In its public statement Willie Walsh, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “This is a great service for our customers whom we know want to do business in the air or simply stay in touch via email or text. It’s a perfect fit for our new business class only services from London City airport to JFK which we will launch later this year.”

British Airways passengers will benefit from high-speed connectivity delivered through OnAir’s advanced mobile communications technology. Mobile OnAir uses the GSM/GPRS network, the world’s most widely used and extensive network for international mobile communications. OnAir is also the only existing commercial inflight communications provider to use Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, high capacity services from Inmarsat fourth generation satellites.

Benoit Debains, CEO of OnAir, commented: “We are delighted to be working with British Airways, one of the world’s flagship carriers, to provide the highest available standard of inflight passenger connectivity and to introduce the service on this premium route. British Airways has long been regarded as an industry leader and innovator, and we look forward to helping them succeed in this new trans-Atlantic service. ”

A growing number of commercial airlines either currently offer OnAir inflight communications services or plan to offer them in the near future. These include Air Asia, Airblue, bmi, Jazeera Airways, Kingfisher, Oman Air, Royal Jordanian, Ryanair, Shenzhen Airlines, TAM, TAP and Wataniya Airways. OnAir also serves private VIP and Governmental customers through partnerships with Airbus Corporate Jets, Aviation Centre Cologne and Jet Aviation.

Since December 2007, Mobile OnAir services have been used on flights to more than 54 cities in 25 countries in Europe and the Middle East, and will soon be in use in Asia and in Latin America.