See also: Higher air fares, more mergers?

Its rival OnAir operates on 16 airlines, and says it will extend to 24 by the end of the year.

The AeroMobile system, which has been available on Emirates flights since 2008, allows for six calls to be made by passengers at any one time (soon to be upgraded to eight), and unlimited texts and data usage.

For years, airlines have banned the use of cellphones citing their interference with onboard equipment. But Aeromobile’s technology involves installing a small mobile base station on board to manage signal strength, and ensure calls do not interfere with flight systems.

Bjordal said research suggested about 20 cellphones were inadvertently left switched on during any given flight, and claimed that the company’s technology actually reduced the signal strength of those active cellphones.

“If you switch on a cellphone on board, and there’s no network, it will gradually increase the power it’s transmitting because it’s trying to get hooked on a network which doesn’t exist,” he said. “With our system on board, those cellphones will emit much less power.”

The service is proving popular with passengers, with one passenger on Virgin Atlantic’s fledgling service reportedly having sent 80 text messages during a single flight.

Aviation analyst Vaughan Cordle of AirlineForecasts tipped mobile connectivity to become standard across the industry, and the price of access to drop.

“This is clearly what business travelers need. Many leisure passengers may not want to pay for it though,” he said. “But the technology is there, and if the airlines can get the volume up, they can most likely get the price down.”

See also: Apps tackle travel expenses

But the technology will not be coming to all regions, at least in the short term. Despite being a leader in in-flight Wi-Fi, the United States bans the use of mobiles on flights, requiring that phones are switched off once they enter U.S. airspace.

Mary Kirby, editor of Airline Passenger Experience magazine, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was currently looking into the technology, and predicted the restrictions would be lifted in a matter of years.

“Once this technology is deemed safe by the FAA, they’re going to have to join the rest of the world,” she said. “Regulations are going to change whether people like it or not.”

She said that despite the convenience of in-flight mobile connectivity, the impression she had gained from studies and social media reactions was that many Americans were opposed to calls being allowed on flights, because they were perceived as a nuisance.

But in the years that in-flight calling had been allowed in other regions, she knew of no instances of air rage connected to phone use — something she attributed to airlines establishing good protocols around call etiquette.

“You can’t legislate manners from a regulatory standpoint,” she said. “Sooner or later, the arguments against mobile connectivity are going to fall away.”

source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_travel/~3/ntUGvk4dbfs/index.html

Tensions have intensified as a result of a natural gas discovery off the island of Cyprus

Turkey says it scrambled two military jets to chase away an Israeli plane which allegedly violated the airspace of Turkish-held northern Cyprus.

A statement from the Turkish military says two F-16 jets were used to force the Israeli plane to leave the area.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Reuters they were checking the report.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Israeli forces killed nine Turkish activists in clashes on an aid flotilla in 2010.

Israeli forces had boarded six ships which were trying to break a blockade on Gaza and deliver aid directly to the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory, instead of via Israel.

Israel refused to apologise and as the diplomatic crisis escalated Turkey cut military ties with the Jewish state and expelled Israel’s ambassador.

The latest incident happened on Monday but information has only just been released.

The Turkish military said the Israeli plane violated its airspace five times for a total of eight minutes before it was chased away.

The situation is further complicated by the Greek Cypriot government’s discovery of huge offshore natural gas deposits.

Turkey is questioning who has the right to develop these reserves, and has dismissed a Cypriot-Israeli deal demarcating their maritime borders.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18100762#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

French officials say no one was hurt, but that the plane returned to Paris as a precaution.

The newly-inaugurated French President boarded a second flight, in order to attend a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18074342#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Starring British adventure traveller Ben Fogle, this series follows the fearless explorer as he goes to the ends of the earth in pursuit of action and adventure.  Unlike some other shows where hosts do things you can’t (and probably wouldn’t) do yourself, Ben’s adventures are accessible to any traveller with a sense of adventure and love of physical challenges. His exploits include competing in a 24-hour bike race across the Moab desert, an off-road race across Australia’s outback, para-gliding in Italy, diving in Iceland and ‘coasteering’ along the jagged cliffs in Wales.

Check out the trailer below:

See more details and clips from upcoming episodes, and learn more about your fearless guide Ben Fogle on the Year of Adventures website.

Year of Adventures is premiering in the USA on Travel Channel on 20 May at 11am EST (check Travel Channel for local times). Elsewhere around the world, Year of Adventures is also airing on BBC Knowledge Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Nordic, Italy, Poland, South Africa and BBC Entertainment India.

source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/blog/2012/05/15/lonely-planets-year-of-adventures/

By Katia Moskvitch
Technology reporter, BBC News

Onboard internet has been a reality for a while, but not many passengers use it

As his plane prepares for take-off at London’s Heathrow airport, frequent flyer Matt Hatton knows that in just a few minutes his smartphone will become dead weight.

Well, almost.

No email checking. No Facebook status updates. No YouTube, Spotify, Google search.

In short – no internet.

Despite a number of airlines now offering in-flight internet, also called onboard wi-fi, far from every plane is equipped with the necessary technology.

And even if the connectivity option is there, not many passengers use it.

It is rare for the service to be free of charge – often, the costs are sky-high, compared with terrestrial prices.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Global Xpress will certainly make broadband on planes faster, but not necessarily cheaper”

End Quote
Diogenis Papiomytis
Frost Sullivan

And for many flyers, the experience can be different from what they are used to at home or in the office.

“It certainly isn’t the same as high-speed broadband on the ground; it’s very slow,” says Mr Hatton, director at UK-based telecoms consulting firm Machina Research.

“Anyone hoping to use it for web browsing as they would at home would be rather disappointed.

“My experience was on Norwegian and it was free. And it would have to be! I probably wouldn’t have paid for it.”

Mr Hatton says that he mostly used the service for work-related email, but after hitting “send”, the letter would “sit in my outbox for a very long time and eventually send”.

Rise, fall, rise

For some people, it has become vital to stay connected all the time and everywhere – even above the clouds

But it may all change, and soon, say analysts.

The recent deal between the British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat and one of the biggest global aviation suppliers, US-based Honeywell, may help give in-flight connectivity a boost.

Inmarsat plans to launch three satellites into orbit in the years to come, with the first one planned for 2013.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

As passengers get used to being connected at 35,000ft, they are not only expecting connectivity, but good connectivity that allows for a multitude of internet-enabled applications”

End Quote
Carl Esposito
Honeywell

The firm says the project, called Global Xpress, will provide global coverage and essentially make in-flight wi-fi fast, cheap, reliable – and available anywhere, even on long-haul flights.

But in-flight wi-fi isn’t new.

In fact, it is a decade old – and has already enjoyed one rapid rise, followed by a quick tumble in the mid-2000s.

The first planes with airborne internet appeared back in 2003, after Boeing’s ambitious initiative to combine its knowledge of satellites and expertise in plane manufacturing.

Dubbed Connexion by Boeing, the venture allowed air travellers to stay connected with the help of high-speed signals from geostationary satellites and special receivers fitted on the aircraft.

But after a steep rise in interest, with airlines queuing to get the service and signing deals just months before 9/11, it all went downhill as the airline industry slumped in the wake of the terror attacks.

Without enough airline partners and not too many passengers interested in paying for the service in those early days of mobile internet, the project came to an end in 2006.

But slowly, over the past few years, airborne wi-fi has become more popular once again.

More and more firms now aim to satisfy the public’s urge, driven by the explosion in mobile devices, to always stay online – even above the clouds.

But there is little doubt that in the near future, browsing at 36,000ft will become a similar experience to surfing the web in your own bedroom – if you happen to have high-speed internet there, that is, says Diogenis Papiomytis from consulting firm Frost Sullivan.

“Global Xpress will certainly make broadband on planes faster, but not necessarily cheaper,” he told the BBC.

“The promised speeds are 50Mbps (megabits per second) for downloading content during flight and 5Mbps for uploading content – faster than the average UK household speed of 6.7Mbps.”

It is not sure that those will indeed be the speeds, he adds, and about 10Mbps would probably be a more realistic goal, closer to what is currently available in many households.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

With the current service, I thought it was good value and good performance – however, as adoption and awareness increases, with more people all accessing the internet, I would think it would grind to a halt”

End Quote
Ian Smith
Butterfly

The speed of 10Mbps would also be 10-20 times faster than what airlines offer on planes today.

There are different ways to let users go online in the sky.

Connexion by Boeing showed that in-flight connectivity via satellite was possible – at a cost.

After it was shut down, other companies explored alternatives.

Air-to-ground

US firm Gogo turned to the Aircraft to Ground (ATG) solution, which uses existing mobile phone base stations, without a need for a satellite.

Right now, it is the most popular in-flight wi-fi service provider in the world, equipping more than 85% of all North American aeroplanes.

But the coverage is limited to aircraft flying over land, and – at the moment – it still has to work hard to win over passengers. According to In-stat, a US research and consulting firm, currently only about 8% of air travellers in the United States pay for onboard wi-fi.

Gogo’s prices range from $4.95 (£3.07) if a flight is a maximum of 90 minutes long to $9.95 (£6.18) if you are in the air for up to three hours.

Continue reading the main story

Ka-band

• Pros: higher frequency, higher speeds, lots of free spectrum, smaller and cheaper antennas on aircraft
• Cons: largely untested for aviation applications, susceptible to bad weather, fewer number of satellites around

Ku-band

• Pros: less susceptible to bad weather, tested for aviation, lots of satellites around
• Cons: lower frequency, lower speeds, less available spectrum due to other uses (eg TV), larger and more expensive antennas

Not everyone uses the service simply because some people are still taken by surprise that it is actually offered, while others prefer to disconnect, sleep or relax, being “more concerned with the nuts and white wine”, says Ian Smith from UK firm Butterfly, who travels regularly around the US.

But he tried it out – and was satisfied, he says.

“In my experience, the connection was very fast with low latency – lots of image-based web pages were loading immediately without major delays.

“I did not attempt to upload any great amount of data other than standard twitter conversations and emails.

“With the current service, I thought it was good value with good performance – however, as adoption and awareness increases, with more people all accessing the internet, I would think it would grind to a halt.”

Indeed, when Google decided to sponsor some Gogo-enabled flights last year, letting passengers access the internet free, usage rates skyrocketed and speeds became extremely slow.

Inmarsat plans to launch three Ka-band satellites in the next few years

ATG may be a solution over land, but passengers on long-haul flights across oceans will need a satellite if they are to stay connected.

Satellite is the only way to deal with this problem, says Mr Papiomytis – and this is what prompted providers like Viasat, Inmarsat, Panasonic, OnAir and Row44 to explore the satellite option all over again.

Boeing’s Connexion used the Ku- and L-band frequencies. But these bands do not provide for the fastest data rates, which is something Inmarsat aims to change with Global Xpress.

“We’re flying three satellites, with the first one going up next year, that will provide global coverage in a frequency band called Ka,” says Leo Mondale of Inmarsat.

“These higher frequencies will enable real broadband communications to and from an aeroplane, higher speeds and cheaper prices that we think will fit with the expectations of the market.”

Inmarsat’s partner in the deal, Honeywell, will be developing the onboard hardware for the Global Xpress network, such as the antennas to send and receive satellite signals.

“As passengers get used to being connected at 35,000ft, they are not only expecting connectivity, but good connectivity that allows for a multitude of internet-enabled applications,” says Carl Esposito of Honeywell.

“Aircraft access is becoming easier with wi-fi roaming services, automatic GSM authentication and simpler billing options,” he says.

“These will make connecting on the airplane as easy as at Starbucks.”

Some people still regard long flights as an opportunity to relax

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18021468#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

The Boeing 787 is at the heart of the latest dispute between Air India’s management and pilots

At least 14 Air India flights have been cancelled as a strike by the pilots of India’s national carrier entered its seventh day.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded at Delhi and Mumbai airports. Many have complained of a lack of information from the airline.

The airline has sacked more than 70 pilots over the past few days in a dispute over training.

India’s aviation minister renewed his call for pilots to enter talks.

Officials said at least eight Air India international flights and six domestic fights were cancelled overnight on Sunday.

Reports said about 200 pilots have called in sick since last Tuesday amid a dispute over training for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes.

The pilots are protesting against the decision to train pilots from Indian Airlines, which merged with Air India in 2007, to fly the new planes.

Air India pilots say that as the planes were ordered before the merger, they should be given priority for training.

A day after the action began, the Delhi High Court ruled that the pilots’ strike was “illegal” and ordered them back to work, but many pilots have refused to return to duty.

The airline last week said it had stopped taking bookings for US and Europe-bound flights until 15 May.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18055260#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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The BBC’s Surendra Phuyal: ”The six survivors who miraculously survived have been rescued”

A plane carrying 21 people has crashed while trying to land at an airport in the north of Nepal, leaving 15 dead.

Police say that six survivors are being treated at a hospital in the city of Pokhara. Many of the dead and injured are Indian nationals.

The Agni Air plane hit a hillside as it tried to land at Jomsom airport, a hub for trekkers and religious pilgrims.

Aviation accidents involving small aircraft are not uncommon in mountainous Nepal.

The Dornier aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and three crew members, and had been travelling to Jomsom from the city of Pokhara.

Officials say they are investigating the cause of the crash, which happened soon after the pilot abandoned efforts to land at Jomsom because of strong winds and was about to fly back to Pokhara.

Thirteen Indian passengers and two Nepali pilots were killed in the crash, Jomsom police official Basanta Ranjit said.

Officials say that the plane broke into pieces after hitting the ground but did not catch fire.

‘Thrown around’

Two Danes on the aircraft – Emilie Joergensen and Andreas Rasch – survived the crash.

“We were thrown around. The seats were unfastened and we were squeezed between seats and bodies,” Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet quoted Ms Joergensen as saying.

Aviation accidents involving small aircraft are not uncommon in mountainous Nepal

“I think it was easy for us to get out because we sat in the back and were closest to the exit,” she said.

Rescue workers are at the crash site and police say the six injured being treated at Pokhara’s Manipal hospital include an air stewardess, the two Danes and three Indians, two of them infants.

Aviation officials said helicopters have been despatched to bring the bodies of those killed.

The Indian passengers were said to be flying to visit the sacred Muktinath temple, which is close to Jomsom – 200km (125 miles) north-west of Kathmandu – and a popular destination for trekkers and Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.

Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna both expressed their condolences over the deaths.

The plane crashed at about 09:45 local time (04:00 GMT), reportedly as it was turning to land at the airport.

“It hit a muddy slope and the plane is now buried in the side of the hill,” police spokesman Binod Singh told the AFP news agency.

Nepal’s treacherous mountainous terrain coupled with adverse weather conditions poses a formidable challenge to pilots.

But police say the weather in the area was fine at the time of the crash so investigators are considering possible technical faults.

Last year 19 people were killed when a plane carrying tourists to view Mount Everest crashed outside Kathmandu.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18055140#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Rescuers have been struggling to reach the area and recover the remains of those onboard.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 was carrying at least 45 people on a demonstration flight when it lost contact with air traffic controllers on the ground.

From Jakarta, our Indonesia correspondent, Karishma Vaswani reports.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18046024#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa