Over the past year, airlines operating along busy routes have started moving quickly towards offering in-flight Wi-Fi. Many of them have concrete plans to offer quality internet connectivity across their entire fleet and some are almost entirely Wi-Fi equipped. Travellers now expect that on longer routes and are willing to pay for the same. Not only is it an additional source of revenue for the airlines but also makes it easier for travellers to deal with long flights while making it easier to ignore the usual inconveniences associated with flying.

The project initiated by Inmarsat, Deutsche Telekom, Nokia and Thales to provide high speed internet service for air passengers has reached a key milestone. They have completed a number of test flights over UK for the European Aviation Network (EAN). EAN combines satellite and air-to-ground 4G services to offer high speed connectivity for airline passengers. It leverages 4G Deutsche Telekom ground towers combined with Inmarsat’s S-band geostationary satellites to achieve the same. The LTE ground network for EAN is different from conventional Wi-Fi networks as it is able to provide coverage upto 150 kms range at flight speeds. The onboard equipment has been provided by Thales.

The trials tested the system’s performance and whether it could successfully work together with the ground system. The service is said to offer 50 Gbps of bandwidth which means that once implemented, the travellers will be able to get internet connectivity like they would expect on the ground. The companies are expected to introduce EAN in mid-2017.

Europe is expected to be the most attractive market of in-flight Wi-Fi in future. Asia-Pacific region is lagging behind in this space but is anticipated to grow at a rapid pace over the next five years. It remains to be seen how EAN will be adopted by carriers and made widely available.

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It pays to be a loyal customer and in the end you won’t mind being a member of JetPrivilege, if the airline keeps making subtle innovations such as the recently introduced JetScreen, the new wireless streaming in-flight entertainment service. This services also demonstrates that Jet Airways does have a plan or two for the smartphone savvy millennials in the country.

The recently introduced service allows customers to stream video content, movies, shows and much more on their personal Wi-Fi enabled smartphone devices. The content consists of Bollywood/Hollywood and regional movies, games etc. The remote streaming also has standard in-flight entertainment features such as 3D flight tracking and access information etc.

The features of this service seem to be the tip of the ice-berg as Jet Airways sees this as the initial step before offering “fully-fledged, broadband-enabled Wi-Fi connectivity”, which will give passengers the ability to browse the internet, send and receive email, access connecting flight information and more.

What’s available? 

• Standard in-flight entertainment features (3D tracking, movies, games etc.)
• Over 220 hours of content to begin with
• BYOD Model (Bring Your Own Device Model)
• Accessible via AirPlane mode

What seems to be missing?

• Cost implications are not clear
• Availability on limited routes as of now

To access streaming content on personal devices, flyers need to download the free ‘Airtime Player’ app which is available on the App Store and Play Store. Once they have boarded the flight, all they need to do is connect to “JetScreen” Wi-Fi in airplane mode.

Gaurang Shetty, whole-time Director, Jet Airways, says, “Inflight entertainment is a key element of Jet Airways’ full-service experience. Our selection of the best entertainment content across genres is aimed at enriching the inflight experience of our guests. Streaming of content on personal devices has become extremely popular globally, and we are confident that this initiative, will appeal to all our guests especially the millennials who prefer to access content on the move.”

For more details on how to experience, JetScreen visit this link.

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