Nok Air today became the first airline in Asia to offer passengers free inflight WiFi connectivity. The airline views free broadband Internet access as a value-added service for its passengers to enhance their travel experience.
Nok Air is the first airline to benefit from a partnership between Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) and Thaicom Public Company Limited (Thaicom). In addition to Nok Air, GEE and Thaicom will jointly develop, implement and support inflight connectivity solutions for airlines in Thailand and the surrounding region.
“We’re very excited to be the first in Asia to offer free inflight WiFi to our passengers on top of our other free services. This is a testament to our promise of being proactive in bringing new and innovative services to our passengers. Inflight WiFi will provide our passengers with a whole new travel experience, as they can still connect to what is important to them at 35,000 feet in the air,” stated Patee Sarasin, CEO of Nok Air.
在飛機上免費無線上網的服務，今天起亞洲也可以享受到了，一班由泰國曼谷廊曼（Don Mueang）國際機場飛往普吉島的廉價航空Nok Air（飛鳥航空，編號DD7510），透過衛星Ku頻道，開始提供免費機上無線上網服務。飛機上無線網路是由泰國Thaicom通訊公司提供衛星訊號。
據悉，Thaicom將提供乘客透過Wi-Fi和衛星接收寬頻上網，旅客可在機上瀏覽網頁、閱讀新聞、收發電子郵件、上臉書等社交媒體。
Thaicom與鳥航協議中，首波將提供6架飛機空中上網服務，並計劃三年內擴大服務到全機隊22架飛機，預計每年48,000航班，將有高達600萬個鳥航乘客可享空中上網服務，速度接近現行3G上網速度。
鳥航執行長Patee Sarasin表示「我們非常高興能成為亞洲首個提供免費飛機Wi-Fi上網服務，這是我們所有免費服務中最重要的，這也證明了我們正在積極地為乘客帶來全新和創新的服務承諾。在飛機上的Wi-Fi無線將為我們的乘客提供了一個全新的旅遊體驗，因為他們在35,000英呎高空，仍然可以高速上網。」