Garuda Indonesia plans inflight wifi for Australia flights
By John Walton, September 28 2012
Garuda Indonesia will be offering inflight Internet from the end of the year, with new Airbus A330 planes receiving in-the-air satellite wifi as standard and the existing fleet seeing a refit.
The airline will use the OnAir satellite-based system, similar to the systems that are already being used on Australian flights by Emirates, Singapore Airlines and others.
OnAir is slower than the ground-based wifi that you might be used to on US flights, but business travellers value it for those times when they need to get messages to and from the office urgently while in the air.
And while Garuda hasn't released any prices yet, expect them to be relatively high compared with getting online anywhere that isn't a metal tube 38,000 feet in the air -- in line with the competition.
Check out our in-depth review of Garuda's fully flat bed and business class service between Sydney and Jakarta!
Inflight Internet is a trend that we -- and many connected business travellers -- are pleased to see expanding around our region.
"Connectivity is now a must-have for any airline wishing to offer the most up-to-date cabin services," spruiks Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir -- which, of course, you might expect from the head of a company selling connectivity, but it doesn't make him wrong.
That's what airlines are betting, anyway, with an ever-growing list of them planning wifi on flights from Australia:
For more on inflight Internet and all the other business travel news you need, follow @AusBT on Twitter!
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
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