Starting July, select Singapore Airlines flights will allow text messages to be sent via Short Messaging Service (SMS) to mobile phone users around the world.
An LCD panel and handset fitted to a passenger's seat will be the mode of communications. To compose a message, users can either use the handset's numeric keypad or the touch screen monitor.
Indian firm Unimobile will act as the messaging broker between Singapore Airlines and 400 mobile phone operators in 130 countries. The application that powers the service was developed by US-based Matsushita Avionics Systems.
Outgoing messages are cached, compressed and delivered to the recipient using Inmarsat Holdings' satellite system.
Apart from text messaging, passengers will be able to use the same platform for e-mail, Singapore Airlines said at a press briefing.
One drawback, however, is that passengers will not be able to receive text or e-mail messages while on board.
During the three-month pilot, both services will be available on ten Megatop B747 and Jubilee B777 planes for flights from Singapore to the United States, Europe and Australia.
"There won't be any fees imposed during the trial," Yap Kim Wah, Singapore Airlines senior vice president for Products & Services, told reporters. After commercial launch, the cost of each outgoing message will be "affordable", he said, adding that pricing has yet to be determined. In October, the airline will start installing the system on all 69 long-haul aircraft, Yap said
He added that in three to four years, Singapore Airlines hopes to offer broadband Internet access onboard. The company is currently in talks with Connexion, the Internet technology unit of Boeing, to explore broadband offerings.
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the airline suspended its in-flight e-mail and Internet access trial with US-based Tenzing Communications. Yap could not indicate when the project would be revived.
