verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message onair type private industry telecommunication technology aviation founded 2005 headquarters geneva switzerland website www.onair.aero onair is a company that enables airline passengers to use their mobile phones and laptops for calls text messaging emails and internet browsing . by may 2014 onair s services were available in over 60 countries ; used by 22 airlines flying over five continents . the company is a fully owned subsidiary of sita originally incorporated as a joint venture with airbus in february 2005 . in february 2013 airbus sold its 33 % final stake to sita . 1 the company is headquartered in geneva switzerland and has operations in seattle and sales offices in london singapore and dubai . contents 1 services 2 technology 2.1 satellite link 2.1.1 inmarsat swiftbroadband l band 2.1.2 inmarsat globalxpress ka band 2.2 onboard server 2.3 wi fi network 2.4 gsm network 2.4.1 passenger equipment compatibility 2.5 ife connectivity 3 customers 4 see also 5 references 6 bibliography 7 external links services edit onair offers three services which aircraft operators can order together or separately internet onair is a wi fi network which offers internet access at broadband speed to passengers . 2 mobile onair is a cellphone service which offers mobile telephony sms and narrowband internet access 56 kbit s and so allows passengers to make and receive calls on their mobile phones send and receive text messages and emails and use the internet . airlines can restrict usage of these services at discretion enabling them to ban voice calls and allow only sms and internet access instead . lufthansa is one airline following this restrictive approach due to passengers alleged desire for quiet during flights . 3 link onair is a managed network service that allows airlines to use the ip based satellite connection used by the aforementioned services for other applications such as supplying in flight entertainment systems with news content or internet access and providing mission critical information and communication services to air crews . 2 onair play combines inflight connectivity with films tv live news music games magazines and newspapers . passengers have access to a full range of content including live news and sport updated throughout the flight and can buy destination based goods and services to ease their arrival . 4 all three services share the same satellite connection to the ground . onair was the first company to provide integrated gsm and inflight wifi services with oman air as the launch airline in march 2010 . 5 onair s technology has been certified for use on many types of aircraft both private and commercial jets including boeing and airbus for short and long haul . in most cases it is available for linefit or retrofit . 6 technology edit typical location of satellite antenna radome onair s onboard system is based on a wi fi access point and or a gsm picocell connected to the ground through a satellite link . all onboard equipment except for the satellite antenna fits into a hand luggage compartment . 7 satellite link edit onair offers the satellite connectivity required for its onboard services using inmarsat s swiftbroadband service operating in the l band and prospectively inmarsat s ka band based global xpress system which is expected to be launched in 2015 . however customers are free to use third party services for the backhaul to the ground . 90 % of the onboard equipment can be used with any radio link for example other satellite networks or a direct air to ground link . 8 due to the limited bandwidth of only 864 kbit s offered by onair today and its inability to feed in live television in february 2013 emirates one of onair s largest customers has selected a ku band based service provided by onair s rival panasonic avionics global communications suite gcs for its fleet of boeing 777s and future airbus a380 deliveries while existing airbus a380s for now remain connected through onair s service . 1 9 inmarsat swiftbroadband l band edit a satellite data unit sdu manufactured by thales and branded topconnect establishes a backhaul link to the ground through inmarsat s swiftbroadband geostationary satellite constellation operating in the l band around 1500 mhz which allows the use of electronically steerable antennas mounted atop the aircraft fuselage and encased within a fiberglass rf transparent radome that have a low profile compared to systems operating in the ku band or ka band which today still require mechanically steerable antennas with a significantly higher profile . thus drag and fuel costs are reduced allowing economical operation even on smaller aircraft like business or regional jets . inmarsat s swiftbroadband system covers much of the planet except for the polar regions above 82 and below 82 degrees latitude and currently provides symmetric data rates of up to 432 kbit s per channel dependent on signal quality and overall load on the satellite s spotbeam serving the corresponding geographical area . currently the thales sdu can bond two channels resulting in a maximum bandwidth of 864 kbit s. 10 inmarsat globalxpress ka band edit there is also a clear upgrade path from swiftbroadband to inmarsat s global xpress system a constellation of three ka band satellites which will come on stream in 2014 2015 and will globally provide downlink bandwidths of up to 50 mbit s. onair was appointed as distribution partner for inmarsat s global xpress service in november 2011 . 11 onboard server edit a server installed onboard manages the satellite connection and routes the data traffic while also compressing and decompressing all data transmitted including gsm phone calls that are recoded using the amr codec which reduces bandwidth while maintaining a voice quality virtually indistinguishable from the native gsm codec . wi fi network edit broadband internet access internet onair is provided by wi fi access points . in order to access onair s wi fi internet service internet onair passengers need to bring a wi fi compatible device . access can usually be purchased on board . gsm network edit a picocell operating according to the gsm 1800 standard provides a gsm network mobile onair enabling voice telephony sms and narrowband internet access gprs . the gsm signal is distributed by a leaky line antenna essentially a coaxial cable with a slotted shielding through which rf signals are radiated . this coaxial cable is installed above the ceiling panels along the whole aircraft cabin and provides a uniform linear coverage of the aircraft cabin at very low radiation power levels . in order to prevent handsets from connecting to terrestrial networks which would lead to high transmission power levels a so called network control unit ncu installed onboard generates a broadband noise floor which is being emitted through the existing leaky line antenna masking reception of terrestrial mobile networks within the aircraft . these measures ensure that handsets can only connect to the onboard gsm network and will then operate with the lowest possible transmission power level gsm 1800 power control level 15 nominal output power of 0 dbm which results in significantly lower radiation levels than those experienced on average when using a mobile phone with terrestrial networks on the ground . the gsm network is being realized based on monaco telecom s core network . it uses the mcc mnc tuple 901 15 assigned to sita one of onair s two owners in march 2005 . 12 passenger equipment compatibility edit onair s inflight cellphone service mobile onair requires a mobile phone supporting the gsm 1800 standard also called dcs digital cellular service which most modern gsm phones support as well as a sim card from a network operator having a roaming agreement with monaco telcom . so called quad band handsets always support gsm 1800 and so are compatible with mobile onair . ife connectivity edit the system can also provide ip based connectivity to existing in flight entertainment systems which allows news content to be fed in and messaging services as well as internet access to be offered on in seat units . customers edit onair s customers which have been publicly announced are airlines aeroflot a320 a330 2010 afriqiyah airways a319 a320 & a330 2010 air asia a320 mid 2009 air blue a320 mid 2009 air france trial in an a318 2007 2008 air new zealand a320 2011 all nippon airways boeing 767 and boeing 777 2012 azal azerbaijan airlines airbus and boeing 2012 british airways a318 only from city airport to jfk mid 2009 british midland airways trial in an a320 2009 cebu pacific air a330 and a320 in a second phase 2012 egypt air a330 2010 emirates airline use onair across a fleet of 90 a380 airliners with roll out of service that began in autumn 2011 13 etihad airways a320 a330 300 2012 finnair a330 2013 hong kong airlines a330 service launched in march 2012 iberia a330 and a340 2013 kingfisher airlines a330 and a340 mid 2009 libyan airlines a320 & a330 2010 oman air a330 2009 was the first to take onair s integrated gsm and inflight wifi service qantas a380 late 2008 . in service from march to december 2012 . will be included on the new b787s when they enter operation in 2018 . qatar airways a320 end 2009 boeing 787 may 2010 royal jordanian a320 2008 and a340 2009 ryanair boeing 737 service started feb 2009 ended march 2010 14 saudi arabian airlines a330 mid 2010 b777 september2013 . expansion to b787s when they enter in operation in 2015 . shenzhen airlines boeing 737 and a320 mid 2009 singapore airlines a320 & a330 2010 plans to use onair across its fleet of a380 boeing 777 a340 500 starting first half of 2012 . announced in oct. 2010 tam airlines a320 2008 first aircraft launched in october 2010 . expansion to another 26 aircraft announced in february 2011 all to be operational by the end of 2011 tap portugal trial in an a319 2008 a330 and a350 announced at aircraft interiors 2012 thai airways a330 and a380 2012 wataniya airways a320 service started jan. 2009 philippine airlines a330 & b777 2013 garuda indonesia a330 & b777 2013 kuwait airways to be installed on a320 & a330 aircraft in 2014 and 2015 srilankan airlines a330 300 15 taag angola airlines inflight gsm and wi fi to be available in 2014 on 777 300er aircraft cruise ship operators hapag lloyd ms europa 2010 hapag lloyd ms bremen 2011 ms hanseatic 2011 private jet operators and vip comlux the aviation group a320 prestige 2010 & a319 cj 2011 dasnair falcon 7x 2011 solar impulse solar impulse hb sia 2010 amjet executive amjet executive sa sx jet 2013 see also edit gogo inflight internet aircell row 44 swift broadband by inmarsat connexion by boeing aeromobile references edit a b mary kirby 11 february 2013 . exclusive airbus exits inflight connectivity business with sale of onair stake to sita . apex . retrieved 12 february 2013 . a b global distribution systems & technology partners . focus 22 september 2011 . lufthansa ja zur sms im flieger nein zu telefonaten . focus . retrieved 14 july 2012 . philippine airlines to be launch customer for onair play . oman air launches full mobile phone and wi fi connectivity aboard new airbus a330s . the new inflight must have an interview with onair ceo ian dawkins . emirates puts emphasis on inflight live television as mammoth deal with panasonic is revealed . mary kirby 21 august 2012 . inmarsat s swiftbroadband is about to get swifter for airlines business jet operators . apex . mary kirby 8 february 2013 . emirates puts emphasis on inflight live television as mammoth deal with panasonic is revealed . apex . retrieved 14 february