Source: Denver Post
Author: Kristen Leigh Painter

United Airlines announced Tuesday that it has launched Wi-Fi service aboard select international flights, making it the first U.S.-based carrier to offer in-flight Internet on overseas routes.

The Chicago-based airline has equipped one Boeing 747 aircraft so far with the satellite-based Internet connection and plans to install the technology on another 747 by February.

The trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific airways have often been considered the final frontier of connectivity for U.S. air travelers, which is a welcome hiatus for some travelers and a frustrating inconvenience to others.

"If it's a ten-hour flight, you lose ten hours of work," said Robert Polk, chief executive of Polk Corporate Travel Management. "If you want to go on the plane and do nothing you can do that."

Many U.S. carriers currently offer Wi-Fi service aboard domestic flights, relying on ground-to-air signals from cellular towers, but several U.S. airlines see the importance of connectivity for business travel and are planning to roll out international service using satellite signals instead.

"I think it has to be on international flights," Polk said. "It's going to be a given that you have to have it."

United has already installed its satellite-based technology — from Panasonic Avionics Corporation's Ku-band — on two Airbus 319 aircraft that serve domestic routes and plans to equip 300 mainline aircraft by the end of 2013.

"We will outfit more than 20 airplanes per month this year," said Rahsaan Johnson, United spokesman. "Customers in Denver will be able to use the service increasingly as the year goes on."

United operates a hub at Denver International Airport, where it is the busiest commercial carrier.

According to Johnson, United will first outfit the narrow body planes — such as the Airbus 319 and 320 — which fly domestically, but will also have more than 50 wide-body, international aircraft outfitted by the end of the year.

This opt-in service will cost between $3.99 and $14.99, depending on the flight's length, for a standard speed connection, and between $5.99 and $19.99 for a higher speed connection.

United plans to install the new satellite-based Wi-Fi on its Airbus 319 and 320 aircraft and its Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft.