Vodafone Ireland today announced details of its partnership with Ryanair to provide 95pc of the carrier's telecoms and communications needs. Vodafone will support ticketing, check-in, ground crews, in-flight crews and pilots with telephony, fixed line and mobile 3G and 4G functionality across Ryanair's 189 locations in Europe and North Africa. Commenting on the partnership, Vodafone Ireland Enterprise Director, Anne Sheehan, said: "This business partnership is one of the most significant for Vodafone Ireland to date, demonstrating our total communications capabilities by providing complete end-to-end solutions tailored to Ryanair's requirements across 189 locations in Europe. Ryanair is a company that is driving innovative technology solutions in the airline industry and Vodafone is delighted to partner with them to drive this evolution." Part of the initiative is the introduction of the electronic flight bag that will remove paper from the cockpit. In addition, Vodafone will support the on-board electronic point of sale (EPOS) devices used for in-flight credit card sales. From April 2015 Ryanair crew will be issued with 8,000 new handheld devices with machine to machine connectivity which will create a secure managed connection to sync data with credit card companies when the plane lands. Ryanair's Chief Technology Officer, John Hurley said: "Over the last 30 years, Ryanair has revolutionised and democratised air travel for European citizens, growing to become Europe's largest airline with the widest route network, connecting 189 destinations in 30 countries, through more than 1,600 routes – and all at the lowest fares." For more, visit www.businessworld.ie