Qantas will officially launch its in-flight A380 connectivity trial tomorrow, March 7, offering passengers travelling between Australia and the United States access to the Internet and emails in the sky.
The trial will commence aboard six Qantas A380s equipped with internet technology for flights between Sydney and Los Angeles and Melbourne and Los Angeles.
Qantas executive Alison Webster said customers will be able to access the Internet via their Wi-Fi enabled laptops and personal electronic devices, such as iPhones, iPads and BlackBerrys, on Qantas for the first time.
“The eight week trial will give customers the opportunity to access the Internet in exactly the same way as a terrestrial Wi-Fi hotspot in which customers can pay with their credit card and surf the Internet, including the use of email,” Webster said.
Qantas is the first airline ito trial this service on direct flights between Australia and the US.
The connectivity service, provided by OnAir, uses Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband and global satellite based connections to transfer data between the passengers in the aircraft to the ground.
The trial will initially be available to customers travelling in the First and Business cabins.
