Emirates Offers Passengers Free Wi-Fi Onboard A380 Planes

Emirates is offering 10MBs of free data to passengers onboard 51 of its A380 planes. The volume is enough to send emails, browse, tweet and use other social networking websites. The availability of free Wi-Fi will enhance customer experience since it would allow passengers to stay in touch with their family and friends, in addition to working while travelling. Currently Emirates is offering Wi-Fi connectivity on 86 aircrafts, 56 of which are A380s and 30 are Boeing 777s.

After 10MB of free data is used, a token charge of $1 is imposed for the next 500MB, which is the cost to get online due to the current hardware and software settings. Till the beginning of next month, the proceeds collected from connection charges will go to charity, Emirates Airline Foundation, which helps disadvantaged children around the world.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ VP for Corporate Communications – Product, Publishing, Digital and Events said that provision of Wi-Fi on planes is one of the most essential value-added service which is currently being offered for free. He also said that due to software and technical restraints, some of the aircrafts still have token charge for Wi-Fi. He assured that the airline is working to overcome the technical obstacles to eliminate the $1 charge to get online. He further highlighted the importance of inflight Wi-Fi by pointing out that passengers on long-haul international routes need to stay in touch while they travel. He said that completely being cut off is no longer an option for most passengers. He said that Emirates realizes the importance of inflight connectivity systems which is why it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to offer Wi-Fi.

Free Wi-Fi was first introduced for passengers by Emirates in October this year.