Airborne mobile - Airbus-SITA tie-up gets EU approval

Plane manufacturer Airbus and communications company SITA are to create technology that will allow passengers to use their mobiles in aircraft.

The joint project between the two will go under the moniker OnAir and has been given the OK by the European Commission regulators, who ruled the venture won't affect the existing markets.

OnAir will be providing "in-flight in-seat" telephony, the EC announced, for calls and internet access.

Airborne banter won't be coming to a seat near you just yet, however. Jens Heitmann, head of systems and equipment standardisation at Airbus, said: "In two years' time, we'll be ready to let you use your cellphone on board."

The EC said that the decision had been approved because "other players are already or may be active in these markets besides OnAir".

Boeing in particular has been dipping its toes into the mile high telephony space, having launched Connexion by Boeing to attack the nascent market with a Wi-Fi offering.

Last year also saw the take-off of an American Airlines plane in-flight mobile technology as a proof of concept for airborne cellular.