PAL first to offer phone, Internet services on flights

MANILA, Philippines - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines, jointly owned by the country’s second richest man Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), has tied up with Geneva-based OnAir to become the first local carrier to offer both phone and Internet services to passengers.

PAL and the global service provider of inflight connectivity solutions would retrofit Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir on PAL aircraft starting next month to allow passengers to call, text, tweet, email and surf the Net.

The service would be available by the middle of the year on PAL’s Airbus A330-343s and Boeing B777-300ERs flying across the airline’s extensive network in Asia Pacific, Australia and North America.

With state-of-the-art inflight connectivity, PAL expects to bring passenger experience to a whole new level, especially since the carrier is in the midst of an aggressive fleet expansion program.

PAL president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said in a statement that the airline is confident it could provide consistent connectivity on all flights using the A330 and B777 because of OnAir’s unique coverage.

“As the country’s leading airline, we must enable our passengers to stay in touch during flights. Connectivity is an absolute requirement for today’s travelers. It is important for us and our customers to have a service that is global, of high quality and flexible enough to suit the needs of all passengers,” Ang stressed.

For his part, OnAir chief executive officer Ian Dawkins said the company has regulatory approvals from over 90 countries, as well as roaming agreements with more than 350 mobile network operators.

Dawkins said OnAir uses Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network, the only one designed specifically to provide worldwide satellite coverage.

“Passengers’ use of the inflight GSM and WiFi networks mirrors behavior on the ground, which is why having both is so important. When both GSM and WiFi are available, over 90 percent of passengers use GSM,” he added.

He pointed out that PAL is OnAir’s 50th customer.

“Simply turn on your phone or tablet and use it for calls, text messages, emails, updating Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Internet. No need to enter your credit card details because the costs are included in your mobile phone bill, as with international roaming. People typically use the WiFi for business. It is more suitable for heavier email and Internet usage. We give passengers the choice,” he said.

SMC infused $500 million to acquire a 49 percent stake in PAL in April last year after Trustmark Holdings entered into investment agreements with SMC’s San Miguel Equity Investments Inc. (SMEII) for a 49 percent stake in PAL Holdings.

SMC bought into PAL and affiliate budget carrier Air Philippines Corp. (AirPhil) through several layers of holding companies. As a result, SMC’s acquired 49 percent of PAL’s publicly-listed parent firm PAL Holdings, which in turn will give it effective control of at least 40 percent of PAL.

Since the acquisition by SMC, PAL has embarked on a major refleeting program aimed at acquiring 100 new aircraft. It has so far acquired 64 Airbus aircraft from British-owned EADS Group through a $7 billion contract signed last August involving 54 aircraft and another $2.5 billion for 10 more aircraft.

The airline is looking at acquiring four more Airbus aircraft within the month and 20 aircraft from US-based Boeing Co.