Vietnam will soon have Wi-Fi on airplanes.

Specifically, in-flight Wi-Fi internet connectivity will be implemented on wide-body aircraft. Vietnam Airlines will launch this service on October 10, 2019, on four of its A350-900 aircraft and will expand it to other wide-body aircraft in the future. The first four aircraft equipped with Wi-Fi are those that regularly operate on routes from Vietnam to Northeast Asia. These four aircraft also operate on some domestic routes.

This service from Vietnam Airlines will allow passengers to perform simple tasks such as browsing the internet, sending and receiving emails, and messaging via OTT applications. According to the airline representative, the access speed of this service will be limited and will not be as fast as ground-based Wi-Fi.

According to Mr. Nguyen Nam Tien, Deputy Head of Information Technology at Vietnam Airlines, there is currently no official price, but it is expected that Vietnam Airlines will offer several Wi-Fi service packages equivalent to the price of international data roaming services abroad, ranging from 8-10 USD per package due to the high cost of satellite connection.

In the near future, Vietnam Airlines will expand its Wi-Fi service to its entire A350 fleet. Simultaneously, the airline plans to research and invest in installing suitable Wi-Fi equipment on its Boeing and A321 aircraft fleets over the next few years, aiming for Wi-Fi service on all of its wide-body aircraft.

The Phong