First for Indian carriers: Onboard WiFi on Vistara dreamliners from September 18

In a first for Indian carriers, Vistara will from Friday (Sept 18) offer inflight Wi-Fi internet connectivity onboard its Boeing 787 Dreamliners that currently operate Delhi-London route. Initially, as an introductory offer for some time the service will be free for all passengers. The airline will later announce tariff plans for the service. Vistara plans to introduce the service on its Airbus A321neo aircraft also.

Powered by by Panasonic Avionics, Vistara onboard WiFi will allow passengers to access internet on WiFi enabled mobile phones, tablets and laptops for sending emails, accessing information, using social media and other purposes. Vistara at present has two Dreamliners.

So far, only big foreign airlines from the Gulf, Europe, US and Southeast Asia have been offering onboard internet on their flights to and from India. Among Indian carriers, Air India and erstwhile Jet Airways wanted to have this facility but did not have the funds to implement it. Cash-strapped SpiceJet plans to offer onboard WiFi on its Boeing 737 Max.

While Vistara is yet to announce its tariff plans, a leading international airline charges $3-6 (depending on length of flight) for unlimited text-only chat using WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Line or Viber. And, plans for WiFi internet on that foreign airline for the whole flight costs $10-20 (depending on length of the flight).

During the limited free offering period, Vistara will gather information on system functionality and feedback on the overall customer experience to further fine-tune the service. The airline will announce the tariff plans for the service in due course,” the airline said in a statement.


Vistara chief commercial officer Vinod Kannan said: “We are delighted to offer on-board WiFi internet connectivity which takes our on-board travel experience to truly global standards. We are also glad to be the first Indian carrier to be able to offer this service to our customers. We truly hope our customers enjoy this new addition as we continuously strive to surpass their expectations.”


Vistara had two years back placed a firm order for six B787-9, and has an option for ordering four more Dreamliners. It is widely seen as a potential bidder for Air India that flies to several nonstop destinations in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia. The one thing sorely missed on these AI long hauls (delhi-San Francisco is an ultra long haul) is onboard WiFi, especially when most big airlines competing for traffic on these routes offer the same.

Source: https://m.timesofindia.com

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