Emirates launches Wi-Fi Hotspots at 40,000 feet

Emirates' passengers are now able to conveniently check and send emails from their personal laptops, even while flying at 40,000 feet, connecting to their corporate counterparts and keeping in touch with home from the luxury of the airline's Airbus A340-500.

The new service, available since 1st July, enables passengers with Wi-Fi enabled laptops to access their regular email accounts via an onboard wireless hot spot throughout the duration of a flight. Emirates was the first airline to take delivery of an aircraft with Wi-Fi pre-installed, when the first A345 was introduced into its fleet last December.

Mike Simon, Emirates' Senior Vice President Corporate Communications said: "The usage of our existing seatback email services onboard confirms that our passengers rely heavily on online communications to conduct their business and social interaction worldwide. Time, for many of our passengers, definitely is money.

"Understanding this need, Emirates has invested in the latest technology, making it possible for our customers to make the most of their time aloft by staying connected during the flight. Wi-Fi is fast catching on as the connection of choice on the ground and we felt that no effort or expense must be spared to provide our passengers with the latest technology to stay connected in the air as well."

During the first three months of service, July-September, Emirates are offering the Wi-Fi email service at a 50 percent discount to encourage passengers to try the service. With the standard service (US$20 per flight) passengers can send and receive an unlimited number of emails up to four kilobytes (approximately three text pages) in size and can upload or download longer messages or attachments for an additional 60 cents per kilobyte. The Check Mail service (US$10 per flight) allows passengers to look at their email inboxes and monitor new or important messages. Passenger can choose to upload or download particular messages and attachments for an additional 60 cents per kilobyte.

The new service will be offered alongside the seatback e-mail and SMS already available on Emirates' A340-500s which let passengers send out e-mails and SMSs during the flight, using an on-screen keyboard, and receive replies. Emirates sourced the software to power the service and networking connectivity from Tenzing Communications Inc. The back office customer support services will be provided by ARINC's ISP, GLOBALinkmail.