Virgin Atlantic to Add Gogo In-Flight Wi-Fi

Virgin Atlantic’s bar on a 747-400

Virgin Atlantic said it plans to offer passengers in-flight Internet service under an agreement announced Wednesday with in-flight Internet provider Gogo.  Virgin Atlantic will be the first European carrier to offer the Gogo service.

The airline will also be the second carrier to offer Wi-Fi on the highly competitive New York-London route.  American Airlines is currently the only airline offering in-flight Internet access on the route.

Virgin Atlantic will install Gogo’s 2Ku dual-antenna system on all of its planes.  The 2Ku system offers speeds of a minimum of 70 Mbps to the aircraft, seven times faster than Gogo’s fastest air-to-ground network.  It uses two Ku-band connections to send and receive data to link the plane and an orbiting satellite.

Virgin Atlantic is a joint venture between Virgin Group and Delta Air Lines.  The airline has a mixed fleet of 37 Airbus and Boeing aircraft including 12 Boeing 747-400s and 13 Airbus A340-600s.  It also has 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliners on order.

The British airline will be the third to deploy the service, following Japan Airlines and Aeromexico.  No target date for making the service available on planes, however, was announced.  The two companies said they have agreed on principal terms and are working to finalize the agreement.

Gogo also announced that Vietnam Airlines will be installing the service on its new Boeing 787 aircraft as well as on some new Airbus A350 planes.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)