Travelling to or from Indonesia soon? You’ll be delighted to hear this: Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia, has just announced that it will extend in-flight internet services to its domestic and international Airbus A330-200 and A330-300 flights soon.
Earlier on the 2 October 2013, the in-flight internet service was made available in its Boeing B-777-300ER aircrafts. It is powered by the Panasonic satellite system. While Garuda Indonesia”s First Class passengers enjoy WiFi access as a complimentary service, passengers in Executive Class and Economy Class can enjoy internet service during the flight after first completing payment by credit card or purchasing a voucher in the amount of US$ 11.95 for 1 hour unlimited internet browing package or US$ 21.95 for an unlimited 24-hours.
According to technology blog e27, Australian travellers will be able to experience the service when GIA begins flying on Sydney-Jakarta route, mid next year.
Garuda Indonesia Director of Services, Faik Fahmi said, this “Inflight Connectivity” is part of the airline’s commitment to always improve service to its customers, especially on the medium- and long range routes served by Garuda Indonesia.
“We hope this service will benefit our customers even more because now they can still conduct business from the sky. It’s part of our “New Service Concept” program which launches our new “First Class” service and promotes much improved “Executive Class” and “Economy Class” service,” he said.
In addition to accessing internet connection through “Inflight Connectivity”, Garuda Indonesia passengers flying with the 777-300ER can also access other services: inflight entertainment, Live TV or live broadcast from six international TV stations, namely CNN International, BBC World, BBC Arabic, NHK World Premium, Euronews, and CNBC.
As Garuda Indonesia carries out its business transformation program and continuous service improvements, the airline’s performance is increasingly being recognized at international level, says Breakingtravelnews.
During the Paris Air Show 2013, one of the world’s biggest air shows, held in June 2013, Garuda Indonesia was named “The World’s Best Economy Class” by SkyTrax, an independent airline ranking agency headquartered in London, and was included in the list of “The World’s Top 10 Airlines”.
Air Asia Thailand to offer Internet Wi-Fi too
Other than Garuda Indonesia, Thai AirAsia (TAA) and Nok Air are working to make broadband connectivity available on their flights in the next few months too. TAA has been outfitting its fleet of Airbus 320 jetliners with satellite-based WiFi and is in talks with two communication service providers. This move is expected to add more appeal to Air Asia’s fleet from its other competitors.
According to Bangkok Post, TAA’s in-flight broadband connectivity could be launched next year, depending on resolving sticky issues involving state regulations and regulatory processes. The WiFi service will cost passengers extra, though the service charge is promised to be “affordable” to reflect the airline’s low-cost policy.
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