European airlines are in race to introduce in-flight Wi-Fi services, in a bid to attract Internet-using passengers as they look to boost their revenue by offering entertainment, services and ads.
Airlines like Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, Ryanair and Vueling are some of the European operators planning to offer on-board Wi-Fi for shorter travels. Norwegian is already offering onboard WiFi on 74 of its 76 Boeing 737s.
According to a study by Routehappy, US airline passenger already enjoy Wi-Fi on 66% of miles flown, more than half of the global average of 24%.
Reuters noted that the taking up of a ground-to-air service in Europe as in the US is tougher due to several countries in the region, while satellite-based services have been expensive for short trips.
However, reports reveal that the launch of more satellites and dropping cost, price will not be a stumbling block.
Passengers are likely to stream TV shows and music on their mobile devices during flights for a couple of hours or less, while airlines can also deploy onboard connectivity to provide passengers with restaurant bookings, shopping or hotel offers alongside advertisers and partners.
