Norwegian has started introducing inflight Wi-Fi on its long-haul Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX fleet.
The first connected Norwegian Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has entered service and the airline expects more than 50 per cent of it’s 787-9 Dreamliner fleet to offer in-flight connectivity by 2020.
The rollout of Wi-Fi on the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will start from mid-January 2019.
In 2019, Norwegian will take delivery of five brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 19 737 MAX aircraft. Norwegian currently operates 24 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as part of its overall Dreamliner fleet of 32 aircraft.
Simple choice of two packages – Basic and Premium inflight Wi-Fi
Norwegian economy and Premium customers on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX will have the choice of two inflight Wi-Fi packages: Basic and Premium.
Basic option
The Basic option is free and allows passengers to browse the web, stay-up-to-date on social media, send and receive emails and instant messages with friends, family and colleagues by using their personal mobile phones, tablets and laptops on board for the full length of the flight.
Premium option
Passengers who want to stream music, movies and television shows on Netflix, YouTube and Hulu and others have to pay for a Premium high-speed Wi-Fi option.
This will be available at an introductory price of $14.95 USD / €12.95 EUR for a three-hour package.
Premium high-speed Wi-Fi is based on an introductory price, subject to change at various stages during the programme as Norwegian analyses usage based on route, seasonality and market.
Supplier
The supplier of the wireless inflight connectivity platform is Collins Aerospace and the system is called CainConnect. Passengers will have secure access to internet content through CabinConnect including their favourite shows, inflight map and voice and messaging services through their devices.
CabinConnect uses the Inmarsat Global Aviation (GX) satellite network, specifically designed to offer passengers consistent, reliable high-speed global inflight connectivity.
Inflight Wi-Fi works via an antenna fitted to each aircraft fuselage which communicates with Inmarsat’s GX satellite network.
N.B. Image credit: Boeing