RICARDO'S BUSINESS || Wi-Fi & Airlines

16 December 2011 | 16:45 - By Ricardo Goncalves

The popularity of smart phones and tablet PCs have seen demand for Wi-Fi connectivity skyrocket and it's taken Australia’s airlines a long time to catch up.

16 major US carriers offer Wi-Fi to their customers, so that they can connect to the internet on their iPhone, Blackberry, laptop and iPad or the equivalent on their flight.

Delta currently has the most Wi-Fi equipped fleet with around 500 planes offering the services.

But now, Australia's major carriers are set to do the same.

Qantas has announced that from February, it will trail an inflight connectivity pilot on some A380 aircraft flying between Sydney and LA  and Melbourne and LA.

Six of those planes will feature the service.

There is a catch though, you'll have to be in first or business class to gain access.

Earlier this year, Qantas said that it would also trial Wi-Fi delivery of more than 200 hours of inflight entertainment options to B767 flyers on JetStar iPads.

Q Streaming as it’s called will also be available on personal devices in the latter part of the trial which starts mid-January.

Not to be outdone Virgin Australia announced earlier this week, that it would launch a similar trial on one of its B737s in the middle of next year called BoardConnect, delivering it's entertainment system on personal devices.





 

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About this Blog

SBS Presenter Ricardo Goncalves with the latest in finance.

Ricardo Goncalves Ricardo Goncalves is a Presenter / Reporter for SBS World News Australia

 
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