British Airways and onboard WiFi

For those of you addicted to Internet connectivity, it seems British Airways is making its wireless project with GoGo a bit of a Gogo, with  initial pricing released.

British Airways Boeing 777-200 taxing and Boeing 747-400s at Heathrow (sans WiFi domes) Image, Economy Class and Beyond

Gogo is installing its 2Ku product aboard British Airways long haul fleet, and with British Airways is beginning the activating it for trial purposes

Gogo 2KU Antenna with Airbus fittings – Image, Economy Class and Beyond

Interestingly British AIrways will offer two forms of connectivity

• Simply Connect – allowing users to connect to the WiFi and use it to carry out tasks
• Connect Plus – Allowing users to connect and stream content as well .

According to British Airways (who were cagey with numbers, the prices start at £4.99 for Simply Connect,and £7.99 for the Connect Plus.

Of course, this is the Internet, and full numbers are out thanks to Head for Points and Business Traveller. So get your wallets open.

Length            Simply Connect      Connect Plus
1 hour                £4.99              £7.99
4 hours              £10.99             £17.99
Flight Pass          £14.99             £23.99

Data: British Airways/Head for Points/Business Traveller

You’ll be able to buy your access in Pounds, US Dollars and Euros.

On first glance, this isn’t well priced (considering you can buy an all-flight pass on American Airlines with Panasonic Ka for $19 or so… coming out near £16). The interesting thing will be to see how much bandwidth to the seat each of the packages is given. If it’s about 5mbs to the seat on the Simply Connect package, this would equate to the packaging from American  Airlines. I would hope the Connect Plus can stream at least 15-20mb to the seat (which is possible on a Gogo 2Ku installation dependant on load)

It’s been some time for British Airways to commit to a in-flight WiFi provider, and with the possibility of streaming video as well  as the usual content, there’s lot to be excited about.

Just bring some extra pennies to pay for your WiFi access.

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!

Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European reader