EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Internet, Technology, Transport

The use of mobile units has exploded in recent years, which has increased the demand for new mobile services. In 2010 Scandinavian Airlines decided to offer Internet onboard their flights once again and to include mobile telephony this time. In the summer of 2011 a contract was signed between Scandinavian Airlines and Panasonic to offer WiFi and GSM using Panasonic’s eXconnect and eXphone systems, informed BC Elīna Vītiņa, PR consultant at SAS.

The SASWiFi Internet service will initially be offered free of charge to all passengers.

Scandinavian Airlines’s Boeing 737-800 fleet will be the first to be equipped with WiFi onboard, with the very first flights being a domestic flight within Norway, and flights to and from Oslo and Stockholm, Frankfurt, Paris and other European cities. In the summer ten B737-800s will be equipped with WiFi, while in the future WiFi will be offered on all short-haul routes and Scandinavian Airlines intercontinental routes as well.

“We’re always trying to find innovative ways of improving the flight experience for our customers. This is why we’re happy to be able to offer broadband WiFi services, along with GSM telephony and wireless entertainment, as we know that these are services our customers have really been asking for,” says Marek Pedersen, SAS Scandinavian Airlines District Manager Latvia & East Europe.

From 2012 Scandinavian Airlines will also offer GSM and GPRS telephony, which will allow passengers to send and receive SMS texts, use GPRS and also make and receive calls.