Air India to Offer Inflight Wi-Fi Service

Tuesday, 4th February 2014 at 09:12am

Air India, the country's state-owned flag carrier aims to set the blaze in the local aviation industry when it launches an in-flight Wi-Fi service on board all its planes.

According to an airline official, the strategy is to improve the carrier's in-flight service and stay competitive as it tries to stem its eroding market share that it lost to other carriers especially in the international sector. The state flag carrier has long been lodged from the top position in the domestic market by its closest rivals, IndiGo and Jet Group.

The same official disclosed that its fleet is among the youngest in the industry with an average age of 3.5 years. The airline's fleet of A320s are going to be replaced in phases as soon as they take delivery of all its new planes that it has ordered. All the incoming planes shall be fitted with Wi-Fi technology as soon as they start service.

It might take for Air India some time before they can see any profit or the lack of it in the new in-flight innovative service. The airline is also awaiting a product presentation from Thales, a UK-based firm which is acknowledged as the world's leading service provider for in-flight entertainment and connectivity.

Several airlines around the world have began to introduced in-flight connectivity as part of service innovation to attract more customers. Emirates and Singapore Airlines, for instance, have introduced similar service for some time but, so far, they have yet to see return for their investment.

The airline official, though, was optimistic about the new offering and promised to study it carefully before they will launch the service.

By: Pete Lee.