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FAQ : Status of on-board WiFi rollout on BA aircraft

Old Oct 1, 2017, 1:57 am
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Last edit by: sigma421
Onboard WiFi has been introduced to BA's fleet and is being marketed as Highlife Connect. This thread is to track the rollout. See https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb.../wifi-on-board for BA's FAQ on the system.



Long-haul aircraft with WiFi fitted

A350-1000 - All fitted (12 aircraft).

A380 - All fitted (12 aircraft)

777-200ER - All fitted (43 aircraft)

777-300ER - All fitted (16 aircraft)

787-8 - 0/12 aircraft

787-9 - 14/18 aircraft

G-ZBKA, G-ZBKB, G-ZBKC, G-ZBKD, G-ZBKG, G-ZBKH, G-ZBKI, G-ZBKJ, G-ZBKK, G-ZBKL, G-ZBKM, G-ZBKN, G-ZBKO, G-ZBKP

787-10 - All fitted (2 aircraft).


BA are currently trialling free WiFi in first class cabins. For those in other cabins the current cost on all long-haul aircraft is:
  • 1 hour: Ł7.99
  • 4 hours: Ł17.99
  • Full flight: up to Ł23.99 depending on route

Note that prices and services offered are subject to change.
Long-haul aircraft still to be fitted with WiFi

787-8 - G-ZBJA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/M

787-9 - G-ZBKE/F/R/S
Short-haul and mid-haul aircraft known to have WiFi fitted and enabled

The majority of aircraft have wi-fi equipment fitted with the exception of those expected to retire within the next few years. Wi-fi equipment is installed after delivery and the rate at which this happens appears to have slowed down post-COVID.
A319 - 12/29 Aircraft

G-EUOA
G-EUPL/M/N/O/P/R/S/T/U/Y/Z

A320 - 61/67 Aircraft

G-EUUA/B/C/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/R/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z
G-EUYA/B/D/E/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/R/S/T/U/V/W/X
G-GATH/J/K/M/N/P/R/S/U
G-MEDK
G-MIDO/S/T/X/Y
G-TTOB/E

A320neo - 17/20 Aircraft

G-TTNA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R

Wi-fi installation has not yet occurred for aircraft delivered from October 2022 onwards.

A321 - 15/18 Aircraft

G-EUXC/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M
G-MEDL/M/N

A321neo - All fitted (10 aircraft)

The price of WiFi on short-haul flights varies according to the length of the route. The following prices are known:

Messaging - Ł1.99 or Ł2.99 depending on flight distance.

Browse & Stream (one hour) - Ł4.99

Browse & Stream (whole flight)
Ł4.99 (MAN / NCL)
Ł6.99 (ARN / HAM)
Ł7.99 (KRK / LIS / MAS / PMI)
Ł8.99 (AGP)
Ł9.99 (LED / SOF)
Ł11.99 (LCA)



Short-haul aircraft not planned to receive WiFi due to retirement

A319 - 18 Aircraft

G-EUOE/F/G
G-EUPD/G/J/K/W
G-DBCA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/J/K

Background information:
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FAQ : Status of on-board WiFi rollout on BA aircraft

Old Oct 10, 2017, 9:10 pm
  #46  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Is that all we need to confirm Wifi? In other words does the radome go hand-in-hand with Wifi installation and implementation? If so it wouldn't take long for FTers to get the list of equipped aircraft, particularly since we know who has been in CWL recently.
Not necessarily. Some 77Ws i know of have been delivered to other airlines with the radome but no WiFi antenna fitted. STBA has had a radome of some form since delivery, before Gogo's Ku band product even existed.

Are BA going to offer this free to F passengers? Or is that a stupid question.
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Old Oct 12, 2017, 4:39 am
  #47  
 
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777s should begin to have WiFi fitted soon, with the first aircraft to have it installed being G-STBB, a 77W.
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Old Oct 12, 2017, 4:55 am
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by MFCC
777s should begin to have WiFi fitted soon, with the first aircraft to have it installed being G-STBB, a 77W.
It'd be nice to see this on the Kangaroo route. ^
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Old Oct 12, 2017, 8:24 am
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by The _Banking_Scot
Hi,

Very interesting,

I think you are the first FT to post live from a wifi equipped BA jet ( apart from the LCY jets)



Regards

TBS
ahem...

Any word on in flight wifi?
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Old Oct 12, 2017, 12:02 pm
  #50  
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I’m doing two PHX-LHR-JNB MRs in a couple weeks. I will post my findings and will be hoping that I will have WiFi on at least a couple of these 11hr flights.
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Old Oct 12, 2017, 12:26 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by ThatT1Feeling
Hi,

ooops ! Sorry Missed that thread.

Regards

TBS
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Old Oct 15, 2017, 1:42 pm
  #52  
 
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On CIVS right now somewhere between London and Washington DC. Signed up for the basic service. Must not be anyone else online. Getting great speeds (22 down, 5up). Did a quick Facebook live video looking out the window in 1A. Don't see it advertised anywhere and no mentioned from what I heard from the cabin staff. Great service so far by the way. Cheers.
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Old Oct 15, 2017, 8:50 pm
  #53  
 
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I know the ping is not great but as a general point it is truly amazing that 22Mbps can be achieved sitting on an aircraft. That's faster than many residential connections.

I still remember 56k being state of the art and I'm sure some on here remember when carrier pigeons were introduced
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Old Oct 15, 2017, 9:08 pm
  #54  
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Originally Posted by 1010101
I know the ping is not great but as a general point it is truly amazing that 22Mbps can be achieved sitting on an aircraft. That's faster than many residential connections.
It's over 15 times the speed of the CWS residence. I am not sure that will be maintained when dozens of video streaming passengers are whacking the bandwidth, but we shall see. AA on domestic flights tend to be in the 1 to 5 Mbps area when a quarter of the way into the flight (the worst time).
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 3:21 am
  #55  
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Experience at LH and other carriers shows people are rarely willing to pay 15+€/flight so the bandwidth will be good for those who pay.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 3:46 am
  #56  
 
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I thought the A380s and 787s already had the hardware installed for WiFi? If this is the case, hopefully roll-out on these will be relatively quick.

I did think the 77Ws had WiFi hardware installed too, but the post upthread suggests this is not the case.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 4:04 am
  #57  
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Originally Posted by FFMilesJunkie
On CIVS right now somewhere between London and Washington DC. Signed up for the basic service. Must not be anyone else online. Getting great speeds (22 down, 5up). Did a quick Facebook live video looking out the window in 1A. Don't see it advertised anywhere and no mentioned from what I heard from the cabin staff. Great service so far by the way. Cheers.
That is far, far faster than anything I have seen on SQ. Their 777/350 are pretty decent but their A380 is Onair and good grief, it's snail-powered. JL is pretty fast overall but nothing like that speed. Those are the main carriers on which I use the wifi.

In fact it is substantially faster than the speed I get in the house!
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 4:35 am
  #58  
 
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Very impressed by those speeds, though lag is (expectedly) high.

As others have noted I doubt it will be maintained once more people start using it, but it's still substantially better than large swathes of the UK, especially in more rural areas. And let's be honest, even if this dropped to 3-5MB downstream, you're getting serviceable internet access at 570mph and 30,000 feet. That's pretty remarkable, really - though now I do feel old!
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 4:57 am
  #59  
 
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deleted

Last edited by ahmetdouas; Nov 10, 2017 at 7:40 am
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 9:36 am
  #60  
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I've just done a speedtest on JL and it came out at:

Ping 934 ms
Download 1.67 Mbps
Upload 0.00 Mbps <== this doesn't seem right but I can believe the download speed. Still much faster than the A380 OnAir on SQ, although about the same speed as their 777/A350.

I am rather hopeful that BA's speed will be pretty good.
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