[Satellite TODAY Insider 10-06-10] OnAir will bring its Internet connectivity services to Singapore Airlines, OnAir announced Oct. 5.
The multimillion-dollar collaboration between OnAir and Singapore Airlines includes a full suite of onboard communication offerings, providing the airline’s customers with access to Wi-Fi Internet and mobile telephony services based on Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband.
    Stephan Egli, OnAir’s Chief Commercial Officer, told Satellite TODAY Insider that he expects a number of other deals to close soon. “Before the end of this year, we will be launching services with seven more customers, including Tam Airlines in Latin America, meaning that by the end of 2010 we will have 19 customers in operation. We currently have seven unannounced customers, and we are engaged in several significant sales campaigns and expect to close some of these agreements hopefully before the end of the year.”
    OnAir, which has launched on four airlines this year — Oman Air, Egyptair, Saudi Arabian Airlines and AirAsia — is attempting to expand its in-flight footprint with recently announced deals with Aeroflot and Emirates. Egli said commercial airlines have been jumping on the bandwagon. “There will be a cascade effect coming from major airlines who are already offering onboard connectivity that will influence other airlines to provide it as well, to the point that in the next two to three years and out, in-flight connectivity becomes a requirement for airlines as much as other items in the cabin. The significant change in recent deals is that airlines are deciding on fleet-wide rollouts as opposed to trials.”
    Egli added that the airline connectivity market could have seen a multitude of deals earlier on but has been slowed down because of the economic recession. “Clearly, there was some impact. However, the important point is that now almost all airlines are either launching onboard connectivity or are studying it closely. One other change is  that passengers have overwhelmingly accepted onboard connectivity, and airlines are responding to that. The service will become an absolute must have for the leading airlines.”

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