Lufthansa to provide wi-fi as paid in-flight service on select routes

BANGALORE: It's one more thing to do on a flight, and it doesn't come too soon in a connected world. Four Lufthansa routes between India and Germany have started providing wi-fi broadband as a paid in-flight service -- one of the first airlines to do so on Indian skies. Passengers in all three classes on these flights can now browse the Internet on their laptops and tablets without interfering with radio signals from the cockpit. Lufthansa plans to extend this to mobile phones also by year end, enabling text messaging and data transfer. .

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More airlines flying to India will join Lufthansa in offering in-flight Internet access once they overcome two hurdles: some of the planes are still fine-tuning their wi-fi-gear (notably, Boeing 787s) and those that are need clearance from Indian regulators (for example, Emirates). "We hope to offer this (service) later this year," says Scott Lefeber, the spokesperson for Boeing (787) Communications.

The Technology

In India, Lufthansa will, to start with, offer this service on four flights: Delhi-Munich, Mumbai-Frankfurt, Mumbai-Munich and Chennai-Frankfurt. It's a paid service: 10.95 euros (about Rs 740) for one hour, or 19.95 euros (Rs 1,350) for 24 hours, which passengers can extend to Lufthansa lounges and Lufthansa long-haul flights.

This is how it happens. Any laptop/tablet/smartphone can be connected on to Lufthansa's onboard wi-fi broadband network, called FlyNet, which provides a link to Deutsche Telekom's HotSpot. A satellite link connects the aircraft to the HotSpot, enabling Internet connectivity. Officials of OnAir, the company that enables wi-fi connectivity in 16 airlines and one of whose shareholders is Airbus, say in-flight wi-fi tech is almost similar to that provided in an Internet cafe. "A wi-fi hotspot is provided in the aircraft, which enables passengers to use any wi-fi-enabled device to access the Internet," says Aurelie Branchereau, director (communications) of OnAir.

For an aircraft to be wi-fi-compatible, a small hardware needs to be installed. A wi-fi access point is installed in the aircraft cabin connected to an antenna which communicates to the ground network via satellite. Interference with cockpit communications has been a major reason why wi-fi was not provided in planes earlier, a problem OnAir has been able to overcome. "Small cellphone masts are kept sufficiently close to the passenger's device so that only low-power signals that do not travel far are needed," says Aurelie.

The Challenges

Many aircraft from the latest Airbus fleet are equipped with this facility, but the lack of regulatory clearances from respective countries is preventing them from providing this service in all flights. "OnAir wi-fi is available on the entire fleet of A380 aircraft on all Emirates routes, except that to mainland China," Patrick Brannelly, VP (communication), Emirates. "However, the service will not operate until regulatory approval is obtained from from countries like India, China and the US."