Nok Air trending with Wi-Fi

BANGKOK Journalists and travel writers were given the first opportunity to try Nok Air’s latest innovation free inflight Wi-Fi, 23 September.
The launch programme, led by airline CEO Patee Sarasin, gave journalists a chance to fly to Phuket, enjoy a lunch at JW Marriott Phuket Airport and use the airline’s new Wi-Fi system to connect to the internet with their smartphones or tablets during the flights.
Nok Air will begin to offer connected Wi-Fi flights at no extra cost as of today, but on just one aircraft.
Nok Air is the first premium low-cost airline in Asia to offer inflight Wi-Fi.
Well known traveller blogger, Richard Barrow, was the first to use Nok Air’s Wi-Fi. He posted the first shots of the Nok Air flight at 35,000 feet on Facebook live from the comfort of the cabin, during the return flight to Bangkok yesterday.
The launch flight was on the airline’s newest 737-800 “next gen” aircraft packaged with Wi-Fi capability.
Nok Air made the original announcement on inflight Wi-Fi in early June, this year, when it introduce plans to use Ku-band capacity through the satellite operator Thaicom.
It is understood that Nok Air will broaden the use of Wi-Fi in the fleet, as new aircraft are delivered. It has a fleet of 16 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and transported nearly six million passengers last year.
During an initial press conference, last June, Thaicom confirmed that the service would offer a “3G-like experience” with a maximum connection speed of 8 Mbps.
Commenting on the development Nok Air’s CEO Patee Sarasin said: “connectivity plays a big role…in the travel business.”
He believes airline passengers will prefer to fly with an airline that allows them to be connected throughout the flight.
It’s a costly exercise to equip a fleet of aircraft with Wi-Fi connectivity, he noted. Each aircraft has to have the hardware installed plus there is a leasing contract with Thaicom as well as inflight services provider Global Eagle Entertainment to package the service.
But the airline’s CEO is convinced it makes sense to give Wi-Fi for free.
“This is going to drive customers to our seats…It is going to make money for us,” he said at the original launch of the project earlier this year.
Given the popularity of Facebook in Thailand and the “selfie “photo craze, Nok Air’s Wi-FI empowered flights are going to attract more passengers and put considerable pressure on the competition.
The only downside could be that travellers who view flight time as an escape from mobile phone chatter and connectivity might opt to book airlines that offer “disconnected flights.”
That could be a potential outcome, but trending suggests Nok Air is more likely to win passengers rather than lose them once the message gets that Wi-Fi is free.

sourced:ttrweekly.com