Libya's Afriqiyah Airways makes a connectivity first

In phase one of this agreement, OnAir will install the full connectivity suite (Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir) on the Airline’s A330 fleet. In phase two Mobile OnAir will be installed on the Airline’s Airbus A320/A319 fleet. Passengers will be able to stay connected inflight using their own mobile phones or BlackBerry-type devices to make and receive phone calls, send and receive emails and text messages, and access the Internet.

“Offering inflight connectivity is part of our ongoing drive to continuously improve our customer travel experience, while helping to differentiate us from the competition,” said Eng. Rammah Ettir, CEO of Afriqiyah Airways. “With OnAir providing both GSM/GPRS as well as Wi-Fi Internet, our passengers will have the broadest range of inflight connectivity options available anywhere in the world today.”

Afriqiyah was set up in 2001 to link the African countries directly with one another without the need to use long connecting flights from Africa to Europe and then back to Africa again, breaking the monopoly imposed by the international carries that controlled most of the mail services and air cargo operations in the continent. It is fully owned by the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company (AAHCo). 

  It operates a modern all Airbus fleet having started its operations with five leased planes but at the 2007 Paris Air show it ordered 23 new planes comprising of 11 A-320 and three A-319 narrowbodies; Three A-330s and six A 350 XWB models with options to purchase four more

“OnAir is proud to be working with Afriqiyah Airways,” says Benoit Debains, CEO of OnAir. “The Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir services together provide air travellers with a complete solution: a full range of service and the highest levels of performance whether they are using mobile phones, BlackBerry or their laptops – and with global coverage. Afriqiyah’s decision to install inflight connectivity across its entire long and short haul Airbus fleets is a first in the industry and underlines the importance airlines attach to providing their passengers with such services as we head into a new decade.”

Mobile OnAir uses the industry’s most advanced and extensive infrastructure for mobile communications, along with Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, high capacity services from Inmarsat 4th generation satellites. This gives passengers and airlines the best reach and performance available today.
Afriqiyah Airways (AAW) decision comes amidst mounting demand for inflight passenger communications. A growing number of commercial airlines and private aviation companies either currently offer OnAir inflight communications services or will offer them in the near future.