Air India is set to become the country’s first airline to offer a Wi-Fi service on board both domestic and international flights.
The company is planning on installing wireless internet connections on wide body and narrow body planes, with the service available to passengers for a small fee.
This will serve as yet another example of the monetization of Wi-Fi as Air India plans on balancing the costs to install and maintain the hardware by charging people for its use.
According to timesofindia.com, the company’s senior management has requested Thales of France – a world leader in in-flight connectivity – present a plan for the installation of Wi-Fi on its flights at the earliest possible opportunity.
As reported by online.wsj.com, a number of the world’s leading airlines have equipped their plans with wireless internet connections, with America’s United Airlines among the very first to offer this service to regular passengers.
A senior official from Air India said: “While the hardware will have to be installed on aircraft, Thales is perhaps the only company globally that provides the software and connectivity for internet connectivity in air.
“We want the be the first Indian carrier to offer internet on board and have asked Thales to respond as early as possible.”
