Airline passenger news and views

At the World Broadband Forum in Paris this last September 2011, Eithad Airways' CEO James Hogan said: 'I can tell you that Etihad will have two aircrafts with operational onboard Internet by December this year, and five aircraft by March, 2012.' Today, the airline has seen its first connectivity-enabled aircraft fly. Four more are confirmed to benefit from this innovation by March 2012.

Two different kinds of aircrafts will be affected by the breakthrough: the A320 and the A330-300. On the A320, full mobile connectivity will be installed, meaning that passengers will be able to use mobile phones and Smartphones to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and emails and access mobile data services. Phone calls will be charged at the international roaming rates of passengers' mobile network providers. The A320 will be used for short-haul flights around the Middle East and nearby countries like Turkey or Greece. The A330-300 will have the same, plus Wi-Fi Internet for laptops and tablet use. In contrast, this aircraft will be used for long-haul routes between Abu Dhabi and cities like London, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Geneva, Casablanca or Seoul.

This is not all. Hogan added that this revolution in the aviation industry will allow major financial savings. It will replace the current investments of huge amounts on in-flight entertainment hardware and other systems. As a new technology becomes obsolete far too quickly nowadays, this advancement is a staggering step forward for the aviation world. These wireless developments will bring about 18 billion dollars each year in efficiency savings to Etihad, of which a part will be transferred to passengers, while another will be used to continue investing. In July 2011, Hogan said that sales already increased of 71% for the airline, compared to the preceding year.

And this is just the first step of the internet revolution road in the aviation industry. Major processes like selling and customer management will, according to Hogan, end up digitalized, and engendering even more savings as a result.

Etihad Airways was recognized as 2011's 'World's Leading Airline' by the World Travel Awards and its expansion, reputation and prominence in the aviation world doesn't stop to grow…

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