In-flight connectivity is a major issue for international airlines as more passengers expect connectivity as part of their travel package. A number of major Asian airlines have announced plans to bring these services to passengers all across the region.

In Japan, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines are striving to remain at the forefront of bringing these services to passengers. ANA, which generated more than 264 billion yen ($2.79 billion) in 2012, carries around 3.7 million passengers a month and employs just more than 14,000 people, placing it in the world’s top ten in terms of size.

ANA has had experience with offering Wi-Fi services before. In November 2004, ANA started using Boeing’s Connexion platform, but terminated it in December 2006 as Boeing scrapped the service. “We had positive feedback from our customers on the service and with growing demand from the passengers we have decided to launch the service again,” says Tetsuo Fukuda, senior vice president, products and service innovations, ANA. “Our customers want to stay connected – even when in the air. Our customers’ needs are top priority for us and we want to make sure we make their in-flight experience as comfortable as possible. Wi-Fi is one way in which we can help do this.”

The company is preparing for the launch of in-flight connectivity services starting this summer on 19 of its Boeing 777-300ER and nine 767-300ER aircraft, which fly internationally. “We will incorporate our OnAir Wi-Fi service, ‘Internet OnAir’ and will finish installing the service on all aircrafts by March 2015,” Fukuda says. “We are coordinating with OnAir to clear all technical items to install the service. OnAir has a wealth of experience in handling large scale fleet programs and delivering end-to-end connectivity solutions for multiple aircraft types and we are happy to work with them.”

The company has been monitoring different technologies and reviewing the potential satellite offering available. “We will start this service using SwiftBroadband (L-Band) when we launch the service, but we are still reviewing Ku- and Ka-band,” says Fukuda.

Like ANA, Japan Airlines (JAL) had experience in using the Connexion service by Boeing. After this was no longer an option, JAL launched its own service JAL SKY Wi-Fi in July 2012. The Wi-Fi service first became available on flights between Tokyo Narita Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy airport on alternate days, and then daily from early August that same year. JAL then began delivering the service on flights to and from Chicago, Los Angeles and Jakarta at the end of October 2012, and is now targeting the London, Paris and Frankfurt routes for a service launch early this year.

The usage fee for JAL SKY Wi-Fi is $11.95 for the first hour, or $21.95 for 24 hours upon activation. Customers on a connecting JAL international flight who purchase 24 hours of usage can continue to enjoy the service within the time limit. JAL expects to gradually expand services beyond its Boeing 777s to the rest of its fleet, which consists of 160 own aircraft and 50 leases.

Like most airlines, JAL had to consider what service to use and whether or not to wait for a Ka-band solution to hit the market. “We want to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and to provide our customers with high speed Internet connection onboard as soon as possible,” says Ebata. “We did also consider the Ka-band solution, but it isn’t a service that can be started immediately. We want to start offering this service as soon as possible, and so we chose the Ku-band option.”

But the launch of such services comes with technical issues. Offering an efficient solution available to all passengers was no easy task, according to Ebata. “To be able to provide this service, there is a need to install an antenna and radome on the aircraft, and this was initially a challenge. As there is a limit to the bandwidth of each aircraft, we wanted to ensure the speed of the connection is not affected by the number of people using the service.”

If you leave Thai airspace, there is no connectivity available over other parts of Indo-China, North Asia and the Middle East. There are key regulatory issues in the areas we are flying over, which we have to solve.
— Khun Krittaphon, Thai Airways

As JAL, another player sorting through Asia’s in-flight connectivity market is Singapore Airlines. Last year the company signed a deal with Inmarsat to offer passengers Wi-Fi and GSM connectivity on its long-haul fleets using OnAir’s connectivity services operating over Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband.

Singapore Airlines is operating in a tough environment. For the nine months to December 2012, the group’s operating profit fell 6 percent to $218.67 million, and its revenues improved around 3 percent to $9.13 billion. The company’s operating fleet remained at 101 aircraft at the end of last year, comprising 58 B777s, 19 A330-300s, 19 A380-800s and five A340-500s, with an average age of six years and seven months.

Chew Tai Lu, vice president, product innovation, Singapore Airlines says the airline is obligated to offer the best possible in-flight package to suit the needs and lifestyles of its customers. “In-flight connectivity is a long-term investment for us,” he says. “We officially launched the service last September on 14 aircraft, including all our A340-500 aircraft. This service will progressively be made available on more of our A380s and B777-300ERs.”

The technical challenges for the company include certification of the onboard equipment and the connectivity service authorization from countries that we overfly. Lu notes, however, that the technology is generally reliable.

Lu believes such services have now become a differentiator. “Though in-flight connectivity is only one component of the total customer experience, we are very mindful of the ever changing lifestyle needs of our customers and the impact new technology has on work and leisure activities of customers,” he says. “Work is already underway to bring the next generation of in-flight entertainment offerings to our customers. It is inevitable that with the growing demand for customers to be connected and due to technological advances in SmartPhones and other devices, more and more airlines will offer such services to meet customers’ expectations.”

Besides OnAir’s roadmap to have more countries authorizing the service, Lu is now working with Singapore Airlines’ provider to make the service user-friendly for its customers and to extend usage to operational areas of an aircraft, such as the cabin crew. He says the airline was looking forward to the implementation of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress product, although would not be drawn on whether or not his company would ultimately look to use a solution based more on Ka-band than other alternatives. “Being an Inmarsat partner, it seems more than likely that the airline could be one of those looking to Ka-band in the future,” Lu says. “Our evaluations are based on the customer benefits to be derived from the services offered/available under the different bandwidths, the global coverage, as well as their technological roadmaps.”

Like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International (Thai Airways) also launched in-flight connectivity services last year. One of Asia’s largest airlines, Thai Airways is starting to execute on its strategy by initially equipping 13, of its fleet of 90 aircraft, to handle the service. “These include the Airbus A330/343X and the upcoming Airbus A380,” says Khun Krittaphon, vice president of product and service development at Thai Airways. “We are talking about six Airbus A380 and seven Airbus A330 planes being equipped with these services.”

While the airline is busy equipping its first set of aircraft with this new service, it is already thinking ahead. According to Krittaphon, an in-flight entertainment service could see the light of day in 2013. “In terms of live television, we are having discussions with a service provider on this. We see this as very much part of our ‘second stage’. But, we are more looking at this for our long-haul fleet rather than our short-haul fleet. Our A380 and Boeing 777-300 ER are part of our long-haul fleet.”

The airline will see a number of long-haul intercontinental aircraft delivered between 2012 and 2017 that are equipped with in-flight connectivity services. “Previously, we had on-board telephone services since the mid-90s. But with our future fleet coming up, including the Airbus A330- 343X and the Airbus A380 at the end of the year, we have decided to provide on-board connectivity to all of our passengers.”

Launching these services is never easy and Krittaphon admits there have been a number of lessons that Thai Airways has learned so far, especially in overcoming licensing and regulatory hurdles.

“We have to work very closely with the licensing authorities in other countries, we need that in place. We have to supply these authorities with a lot of information as we go along,” he says. “This is where we are learning our initial steps and where to go forward. This is something new for everyone in this part of the world. This service is not available in neighboring countries. If you leave Thai airspace, there is no connectivity available over other parts of Indo-China, North Asia and the Middle East. There are key regulatory issues in the areas we are flying over, which we have to solve. We would hope to have most of these issues resolved by the end of the year. Our service provider is also negotiating with each country as we go along.”

As Thai Airways has invested a considerable sum in these services, Krittaphon hopes they will become a critical weapon in the airline’s arsenal going forward.

“After our initial 13 aircraft have been equipped, we will have to see how other passengers are using these services,” he says. “We need to see how much revenue will be generated out of that, and what else we can do to improve these services, or make them more widely available on other fleets. We have the A350 coming up in four years time, as well as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a couple of years. By the end of 2015, we would know which direction to go in.”

An important decision facing any airline with in-flight service is whether to migrate to Ka-band solutions or chose more widely available Ku-band offerings. Thai Airways is already an Inmarsat customer, which makes Ka-band a logical step for the company. But Krittaphon says such decisions are still some time away. “Solutions based on Ka-band are still under development. We have selected SwiftBroadband as an interim. When the technology comes online in the next three to five years, we may move to Ka-band. It is new technology and it costs in the tens of millions of dollars range, so we’ll wait a while until it’s more definite and stable.”