Air New Zealand has begun surveying passengers to see if they are keen to use cellphones and access e-mail and the internet on planes.

Inflight entertainment manager Matthew Wood says the airline wants to check what customers' expectations are and see whether they have any concerns.

"For a long time we have been telling people not to use cellphones as they will interfere with the navigation systems of aircraft," he notes.

Mr Wood says Air New Zealand believes the use of cellphones on planes is close, but it's also keen to find out what other communication services customers might want.

Inflight communications took a big step backwards last month when Boeing announced it would kill off its pioneering Connexion by Boeing inflight Internet service at the end of the year.

However, rivals such as OnAir - a joint venture between Airbus and technology company SITA - look set to fill the gap with a raft of new services.

OnAir last month concluded a deal with Ryanair in Britain that will let passengers send and receive text messages and e-mails using their phones and handheld computers - subject to approval from airline safety regulators.

Qantas will trial a similar service from Panasonic early next year.

Ryanair plans to fit out more than 200 Boeing 737 aircraft between mid-next year and early 2008. OnAir will provide connectivity using the SwiftBroadband service provided by satellite network operator Inmarsat through a network of three satellites.

OnAir is also preparing its own inflight Internet service and promises to let passengers stay connected at "economical rates" when flying around the world on both Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

The joint venture already lets passengers on nine airlines, including Qantas, send text messages for US50 cents, using their inflight entertainment system.

OnAir says the price of cellphone calls made from planes will be in line with standard international roaming charges, and that the cost of surfing the Web from aircraft will be similar to connection fees charged by hotels.

Connexion by Boeing's WiFi service lets customers use their own notebook and handheld computers. It has been available from about a dozen carriers and costs a flat fee of US$29.95 per flight or $9.95 an hour. The hardware will be ripped out of aircraft by the end of the year.

Before it decided to scrap the subsidiary, Boeing was integrating its service with airlines' inflight entertainment systems, including the Rockwell Collins system used by Air New Zealand.

Had that project been completed, customers would have be able to access the Internet and send e-mails using the TV screens on planes and some form of keyboard or remote control supplied by the airline - rather than requiring their own computer.

Air New Zealand's Mr Wood believes integrating Internet access with inflight entertainment systems remains a "compelling proposition" for travellers on long-haul flights.

He won't comment on whether he believes Boeing axed its service just as it was coming up with a viable mass-market proposition, but he notes the aircraft maker clearly felt it had invested too much in Connexion by Boeing without seeing a return.

The service was shunned by US airlines but the many non-US carriers that used Connexion by Boeing have indicated they will look for alternatives. Korean Air is seeking at least US$12 million from Boeing to compensate it for the cost of installing the service on its aircraft.

Mr Wood is in Miami this week attending an international conference on inflight entertainment. He predicts many vendors at the event, including OnAir, will be targeting airlines that will be left high and dry by the demise of Connexion by Boeing.

OnAir won't be able to offer an inflight Internet service on flights to and from New Zealand till satellite partner Inmarsat launches the third of its new generation satellites late next year, providing full coverage of the Pacific.

Inmarsat announced last week that the I-4 satellite had been built and tested and would be launched "in late 2007".

The satellite will also provide voice and broadband data links for ships traversing the Pacific. Air time and access equipment will be sold in New Zealand through Wellington reseller Wright Technologies.