British Airways (BA/BAW) has started rolling out high-speed onboard WiFi services on long-haul flights allowing customers to surf the internet, check emails or stream entertainment to their own devices mid-flight.
The airline currently has three connected aircraft in service that are equipped with high-speed internet. The WiFi facility will be available to passengers after the aircraft has passed 10,000ft, approximately 10 minutes after take-off. Over the next 2 years, it will be rolled out across all long-haul aircraft in the fleet.
To celebrate the launch, British Airways has partnered with Visa to connect customers on board the first Wi-Fi enabled flights. For a limited time, customers will be able to connect to high-speed WiFi and enjoy an hour of free browsing and streaming, courtesy of Visa.
After the free hour, customers can choose from two paid-for Wi-Fi packages including the ‘Browse’ package from £4.99, which supports internet surfing, social media and WhatsApp, or the ‘Stream’ package from £7.99, which supports streaming of music and entertainment, from the very best online content services, including Netflix*. The packages are available to purchase for one hour, four hours or the full flight.
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ director of brand and customer experience, said “British Airways has launched its multi-million-pound investment plan to benefit its customers with more choice and quality for all.
Staying connected is important to our customers who want to be able to work, browse and stream in the air. They can now look forward to enjoying the latest generation Wi-Fi across our long-haul fleet over the next two years.”
