Swiss Airlines to introduce WiFi and trial inflight phone calls on new aircraft

Sky high WiFi: Onboard WiFi is coming soon to selected Swiss Airlines long-haul flights.

Swiss Airlines has announced a one-year trial of roaming mobile phone access on some of its services. The airline will also be bringing WiFi to all cabin classes of its new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The Swiss national carrier, now owned by Lufthansa, has nine new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on order, which are due to enter service in February. The planes bring a new set of services for passengers, including wireless connectivity options for staying connected in the skies.

Surfing in the sky

Internet access seems to be passengers' most eagerly awaited on-board service. Now, Swiss Air's Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are set to offer high-speed wireless Internet access to the three different cabin classes during long-haul flights, with a choice of three data packages for staying connected above the clouds.

Passengers who only want to check their e-mails or visit a few websites will be able to buy the 20MB data package for 9CHF (RM37.10). A heftier 50MB package (RM78.40) is suitable for surfing social networks and using the internet for longer periods. Heavy users can opt for the 120MB data package (RM160), although that still won't be enough to stream content. Note that first-class travelers will get 50MB of data free of charge.

At first, only the carrier's Boeing 777-330ER planes will be equipped with onboard internet, which will be up and running in time for summer. These aircraft will be primarily used for services to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Tel-Aviv. However, the airline is considering extending the service to other aircraft models in its fleet, such as the Airbus A330 and A340.

Some of the other airlines currently offering passengers onboard WiFi connectivity include Emirates, JetBlue, Air China and Norwegian.

Mobile phone roaming

But Swiss Airlines hasn't stopped at onboard internet. Passengers on its flights will soon be able to make phone calls or send SMS messages via mobile phone roaming services.

Some restrictions will apply, however. On night flights, for example, the service will only be available at meal times and won't be accessible when the cabin lights are switched off. As yet, there's no information on how much the service might cost. — AFP Relaxnews