Article from BTNews 7 NOVEMBER 2016
IAG lines up short-haul wi-fi
“The fastest connectivity available on any aircraft” is being promised by IAG chief executive Willie Walsh when the group introduces high-speed wi-fi to the short-haul fleets of its four carriers – British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling – next summer.
The company has teamed up with satellite communications group Inmarsat to provide the technology and will be launch customer for its 4G broadband-equipped European Aviation Network (EAN) air-to-ground connectivity.
More than 340 aircraft from the A320 family – 132 at BA, 125 at Vueling, 45 at Iberia and 39 at Aer Lingus – are involved and will start to be fitted with the technology from next summer, with a BA A321 first in line.
The IAG announcement said passengers would have “bandwidth capacity to use multiple devices at the same time”, with connection speeds similar to what they have at home. Details of the cost to passengers will be released nearer the launch date.
IAG announced earlier this year it was equipping the BA long-haul fleet and some Aer Lingus and Iberia aircraft with high-speed wi-fi from early next year using Gogo 2Ku technology.
Around 90% of the IAG short- and long-haul fleets will be wi-fi equipped by 2019, the group said.
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