Excellent news for regular air travellers.
Aer Lingus passengers will have Wi-Fi access on short-haul flights from sometime in 2017 onwards after an announcement by International Airlines Group (IAG) on Wednesday.
IAG announced that it will introduce high speed Wi-Fi across its airlines short-haul fleets after reaching an agreement with Inmarsat to be the launch customer of its next generation European air to ground connectivity.
39 Aer Lingus A320 family aircraft will be amongst 341 short-haul aircraft to be fitted with Inmarsat’s next generation connectivity services to provide a 4G broadband network, giving customers access to high speed Internet while in the air.
As well as having access to email and social media, passengers will be able to stream videos and will have a bandwidth capacity that will enable them to use multiple devices at the same time.
Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said: “We are giving our customers the fastest connectivity you can get on any aircraft. Having announced Wi-Fi for long-haul flights earlier this year we are now equipping our airlines’ short-haul fleets with inflight broadband access.
“Connectivity is essential because it’s what our customers demand and IAG will be the first European airline group to offer high-quality air to ground Wi-Fi on short-haul flights.”
A British Airways A321 will be the first short-haul aircraft to be equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, which is expected to be in service by next summer, with Aer Lingus, as well as Iberia and Vueling aircraft, set to follow later in 2017.
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