Internet Access Coming to International Flights

Nov 22
09:18

2011

Steve Robinson

Steve Robinson

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Frequent flyers expect more and more each year. Now they expect to find WIFI on all planes, international and domestic flights, even though they are buying cheap fares.

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Although Wi-Fi is becoming more common on domestic flights,Internet Access Coming to International Flights Articles no U.S. airline is currently providing Internet service on intercontinental flights.

United Airlines recently announced that it would install in-flight Wi-Fi on all of its mainline planes beginning next year.

United will be installing satellite based Internet on its planes vs. the Gogo service most U.S. airlines now use to provide Wi-Fi on domestic flights.  Gogo transmits its signal from the ground and has station locations across the U.S. that allows planes to connect to the Internet.  Such technology does not work over water.

As long as United planes are in the range of the satellite their Wi-Fi will work properly.  The challenge with satellite based Internet is that it is more expensive.  Also the antenna adds weight to planes and takes longer to install than the overnight required by Gogo.

To date airlines have been reluctant to spend a lot of money on Wi-Fi access because there has not been a lot of demand for this service.  Most airlines acknowledge single digit percentage usage on planes.

United is anticipating Wi-Fi demand to grow significantly and become an important amenity.  United has yet to indicate what it will charge for Wi-Fi on international flights.

Lufthansa charges about $15 for one hour of Wi-Fi on international flights and $27 for 24 hours of Wi-Fi.