Finnair has launched wifi connectivity on its European flights, with six of the carrier’s narrow body Airbus fleet now fitted with the Viasat technology.

The airline said that 20 of its short-haul aircraft will be fitted by the end of this summer, with the rest of its narrow body Airbus fleet expected to be connected by summer 2019.

Access is currently free during a two-month testing period, during which Finnair will “gather information on system functionality and feedback on the overall customer experience”. Pricing beyond this period will be announced in the autumn.

The carrier says that once the installation works have been completed, wifi will be available on “most of Finnair’s European flights”, although restrictions will apply over Latvia, Lithuania, parts of Belarus and Russia, and above selected areas of the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea where satellite coverage and connectivity are unavailable.

Commenting on the service Piia Karhu, SVP, Customer Experience at Finnair, said:

“We are very happy that we can offer our customers something truly special, a state-of-the-art internet connection on our European flights.

“Customers can also enjoy the services we provide online through our Nordic Sky portal, such as the latest digital newspapers and shopping possibilities. Having an internet connection onboard also enables us to introduce new tools for our crew to improve the customer experience on our flights”.

Finnair already offers wifi access on all of its long-haul services.

Earlier this year rival carrier SAS launched a new inflight wifi service on its short and medium-haul aircraft, which it said is “more stable, stronger and faster than many other solutions found in the industry today.

finnair.com