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Qantas to trial in-flight internet

Not to be outdone by Virgin, Qantas has today announced that it will enable in-flight internet access for passengers travelling on its flagship A380 aircraft.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

Not to be outdone by Virgin, Qantas has today announced that it will enable in-flight internet access for passengers travelling on its flagship A380 aircraft.

Qantas

(Qantas B737-800 VH-VXU image by
Andy Mitchell, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The trial, starting from February next year, will see in-flight internet delivered to passengers over Wi-Fi on "designated flights" between Sydney to Los Angeles and Melbourne to Los Angeles routes.

Passengers with a Wi-Fi-enabled device like a smartphone, laptop or tablet will be able to access the trial, but only if they're sitting in first or business class.

The A380s will access the web through an on-board satellite system built by Inmarsat. The Inmarsat unit will be connected to the web via the OnAir satellite service.

The trial of in-flight internet is being run in tandem with the trial of in-flight entertainment streaming via Wi-Fi on the carrier's kitted-out Boeing B767 aircraft. Passengers on the flight will receive a complimentary iPad in-flight to use the service.

The trial of the Q Streaming system will kick off in mid January.

Qantas' nemesis, Virgin Australia, yesterday announced its plans to deploy in-flight entertainment streaming via Wi-Fi in a partnership with Lufthansa Systems.

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