This will enable customers to make and receive calls on their mobiles on select international airlines. Bharti will be the first Indian telecom company to offer this facility to its customers. Aero currently has agreements with several global carriers such as Emirates, Qantas, Malaysia Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
"Bharti Airtel announced that it has entered into an agreement with AeroMobile, a UK-based telecom services company, for on-flight cell-phone connectivity.
The charges, however, will be steep as an outgoing call will cost Rs 188 per minute, while an incoming call will be charged Rs 24 per minute. Passengers will be charged Rs 41 for an outgoing SMS while incoming SMSes will be free.
"The partnership will enable Airtel post-paid customers to use their mobile phones on-board flights, on specially equipped aircraft. This service is offered without any additional subscription charges and only requires Airtel customers to activate their international roaming service," the GSM operator said.
At present, this service will not be available over Indian Air Space and will work only in airspaces of countries where regulatory approval has already been granted, it said.
The Airtel in-flight mobile service is currently operational on 40 specially equipped aircraft on select international routes within the Emirates and Malaysia Airlines fleet.
These aircraft operate on routes to Europe, Africa, Asia as well as regional flights within the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions, including Australia and New Zealand.
Currently, Voice & Short Messaging Service (SMS) have been launched, while GPRS services, for sending e-mails and internet connectivity via Blackberry and other mobile phones, will be made available soon on Airtel in-flight facility, Airtel said.
