Qantas tests Wi-Fi on Australia-to-US flights
updated 12:45 pm EST, Thu March 8, 2012
Australia's Qantas starts eight-week Wi-Fi trial
Australian airline operator Qantas has started an eight-week trial of in-flight Wi-Fi as of Wednesday. Dubbed Surf Sky High, the service will be available to first- and business-class travelers with Wi-Fi devices including notebooks, smartphones, and tablets. Certain Qantas A380 planes will be equipped with the Wi-Fi gear, traveling on routes from either Melbourne or Sydney to Los Angeles and back.
During the trial, travelers will get a voucher with a promo code for free access to the network from a flight attendant. A survey will help Qantas collect feedback on the experience and improve the service in the future.
There will be limits in place, however, with notebook users getting 100MB for the duration of the flight while smartphones (and, presumably, tablets) will have 35MB of data to play with. Activating the service on a notebook is suggested if users plan to also connect their phones later on.
Qantas will consider equipping its entire A380 fleet with Wi-Fi gear if the tests are successful.
