British Airways is moving ahead with the provision of wifi on its long haul fleet. The latest edition of The Club online magazine says that the service will be available “on select Boeing 747 flights.”

British Airways had been testing the service with various providers for several years. Last year the decision was made to use the Gogo service.

This is the same service that other carriers use, such as Delta. You can also read a full interview with Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG, below.

Willie Walsh on wifi

The new technology is from Gogo and is called “2Ku”. In total 118 British Airways aircraft, four Aer Lingus B757s and up to 15 Iberia long-haul aircraft will be fitted with 2Ku. This is in addition to the existing Iberia and Aer Lingus A330 fleets which have Panasonic GCS connectivity.

The new release goes on to say that:

“Two packages will be available to buy, with three time slots on offer for each (one hour, four fours and for the full flight).”

The new service is being called “Simply Connect” and “…will support simple web browsing for activities such as checking emails and social media, whereas Connect Plus will provide a faster connection that will support video-streaming services such as YouTube.”

“The wifi connection will be rolled out on the B747 service from London Heathrow to Boston, Dubai, Washington, New York, Johannesburg, Kuwait, Chicago, Riyadh, San Diego, Seattle and Toronto.”

As yet there is no information about the pricing structure of the three time slots, or whether there will be discounts or free provision for premium cabins, or for top tier card holders in the British Airways Executive Club.

ba.com