SITAONAIR
telecommunication company offering airplane and maritime communication services
SITAONAIR is an in-flight telecommunications company that provides onboard connectivity services enabling airline passengers to use personal devices for services such as mobile messaging and internet access, and (where permitted) mobile voice calls.
History
The business was established in 2005 as OnAir, a joint venture between SITA and Airbus, created to develop and market passenger connectivity services including GSM and internet access on aircraft. In 2013, Airbus exited the venture by selling its remaining stake to SITA, making OnAir a wholly owned SITA subsidiary. In 2015, SITA and OnAir announced a combined organization branded SITA OnAir (stylised SITAONAIR) focused on connected-aircraft solutions for airlines.
Services
SITAONAIR provides aircraft connectivity services for both passenger communications and airline operational use.
Passenger connectivity
OnAir-branded services have included:
Internet OnAir, providing onboard internet access for passengers using their own devices.
Mobile OnAir, providing onboard GSM-based connectivity for mobile devices (for services such as messaging and mobile data, and in some cases voice calls).
Airlines may choose to restrict onboard voice calls while still allowing messaging and data services.
Aircraft and airline operations
In addition to passenger services, SITAONAIR has offered aircraft communications and data services intended to support airline operations, including cockpit and air traffic management-related connectivity and infrastructure solutions.
Technology
OnAir's passenger connectivity services have used satellite connectivity, including Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, and OnAir was selected by Inmarsat as a distribution partner for its Global Xpress service.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “SITAONAIR” is telecommunication company offering airplane and maritime communication services. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through SITAONAIR, telecommunication and company, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “telecommunication company offering airplane and maritime communication services” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7090849. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2013 and 2015.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “SITAONAIR” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.