The majority of airlines will deploy some sort of on-board connectivity for passengers in the next three to four years, a new survey has revealed.

The 10th Airline IT Trends Survey, carried out by aviation technology firm SITA and industry magazine Airline Business, includes the views of 121 airlines worldwide. It reveals that most airlines will offer one or more services such as mobile voice calls, wireless internet for laptop users and data services, including GPRS and SMS. Most say they are planning to charge for access to these services

The survey also found that 18% of passengers are now using online check-in, while 17% use self-service kiosks. In North America, where technology has been rolled out fastest, 42% of passengers now use web check-in, up from 35% last year. Mobile phone check-in is used by 1.5% of passengers.

One in four air tickets is now bought online, the survey found. In Europe, 36% of air ticket sales are made online.

Airline survey: where we stand on in-flight mobile phone calls

Times Online asked 14 international airlines about their plans for mobile phone calls onboard - here's what they said

• Mobiles on planes: who's doing what

Qatar bans inflight mobile phone calls

Middle East airline reacts to customer opinion; Gas-to Liquids fuel in pipeline to reduce emissions

• Inflight mobile phone trials slammed

British airlines to pioneer mobile calls

Ryanair may be planning mobile use on European flights after the European Commission sets out rules for in-flight use

• Coming soon: mobile phones on the plane

• Emirates allows passengers to use mobile phones in-flight

Background

• Inflight mobile phone trials slammed

• Ofcom grants approval for in-flight mobiles

• Young business travellers want on-board wireless

• Mobile loudmouths look to the skies

• USA says no to midair phonecalls

SITA chief executive Francesco Violante, said: “The potential for airlines is still enormous … online sales increase revenue and dramatically reduce costs. This means that airlines must move as many people to their website as possible, to encourage customers to pay more for ‘extra’ services. These upsell and cross sell opportunities can be offered very effectively online to grow revenue. The industry is only scratching the surface of what is possible.”