Air Canada to off er Internet

Air Canada announced Wednesday it has become the first Canadian carrier to offer wireless inflight Internet for a fee on some of its North American flights starting next month.

The country’s largest carrier is looking at rolling out the service on its overseas routes as soon as possible, once the right technology is found.

Ben Smith, Air Canada chief commercial officer, said the service will start to roll out in May on select North American business routes, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and New York and later elsewhere in the U. S. and Canada.

“We want to ensure the option is there. We’re a business- focused carrier on many routes. This is a service our customers have been asking for a very long time,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for a cost- effective way to offer it.”

The news follows WestJet saying it planned to offer an Internet service on some of its flights near the end of the year as part of a new Samsung wireless entertainment system that will use satellite technology.

Air Canada, on the other hand, has partnered with Gogo to offer ground toair service on its North American routes before testing out Gogo’s own satellite technology for consideration on its wide- body fleet for flights to Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Smith said Air Canada thought the current satellite technology was too expensive in North America and that is why they opted for the Gogo service.

Canadian carriers have been much slower than their U. S. counterparts in adopting inflight Wi- Fi, which has become commonplace south of the border.

Smith said that was in part because the ground- to- air technology Gogo will use required Transport Canada approval and needed to be installed on cell towers across the country before it could be activated.

That has limited Air Canada to using the technology on only two of its planes it operates between Eastern Canada and destinations in California.

“Up until recently, the coverage was only over the United States,” he said. “It’s only been a few months now that the service has been expanded across Canada, and over the next few months we’ll have full coverage coast to coast.”

Air Canada will fit its Airbus narrowbody fleet and its regional jets in North America with the new technology, he said. It aims to have 29 aircraft fitted with inflight wireless by year end before expanding to 130 planes by the end of 2015.

The airline is looking at adding satellitebased Internet technology for overseas wide- body and Rouge flights, including a trial with Gogo next year, Smith said.

He wanted to make a decision soon so that it could be added to the carrier’s new 787 Dreamliners on the line at Boeing’s facility in Seattle.

The first Air Canada 787s will arrive in a couple weeks, however, and would require retrofitting in an overnight visit with the chosen technology, he said.

Gogo currently partners with several U. S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and Delta. Those airlines typically charge anything from a few dollars for shorthaul flights up to $ 27 for a transcontinental flight, according to Steve Nolan, a spokesman for Gogo.

Gogo offers monthly rates for frequent travellers, he added.

Walter Spracklin, RBC Capital Markets analyst, said he expected the uptake to be strong for the new Wi- Fi service, and will provide an added revenue stream on its flights with a minimal investment.

He noted Air Canada began offering a new class of seats on its Embraer 175s and A320s, called a preferred seat, which offer more legroom for a fee.

“All of this is another example of upselling now,” he said.