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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 Mar 4, 2018, 6:43 am
  #151  
 
Join Date: May 2014
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Originally Posted by NFH
I flew yesterday on G-ZBJI, a 787 delivered last autumn. I noticed two encrypted wifi networks throughout the flight - BABG-ZBJI and GP54913990.
The Wi-Fi you see on those 787s is the eLog downlink, it's not for customers, crew don't have access to it. It's for the plane to download its eLog so that the engineers know what they'll need to work on as soon as the plane is on the ground, thus saving the time of having to engage the aircraft, trawl through the log, get a debrief from the crew, decipher other people's writing...
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Old Mar 4, 2018, 7:17 am
  #152  
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Originally Posted by NFH
I flew yesterday on G-ZBJI, a 787 delivered last autumn. I noticed two encrypted wifi networks throughout the flight - BABG-ZBJI and GP54913990. One of the cabin crew seemed particularly into technology. He told me that lots of BA aircraft are have the necessary hardware for wifi, but BA has delayed activating the wifi for some reason. I got the impression that BA wants to have a more big-bang launch than incrementally and quietly adding the service to individual aircraft.
Correct as above, BA are announcing each aircraft as they are fitted.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 12:06 am
  #153  
dnw
 
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Beware G-STBE, she just ferried me home from GRU but no announcement and no WiFi the whole way. Asked the crew who said they don’t touch/control anything. Hope it wasn’t just the case that they forgot to switch it on!
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 1:34 am
  #154  
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No this are correct we have no control over the system.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 1:02 am
  #155  
 
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Originally Posted by dnw
Beware G-STBE, she just ferried me home from GRU but no announcement and no WiFi the whole way. Asked the crew who said they don’t touch/control anything. Hope it wasn’t just the case that they forgot to switch it on!
This may be linked to 'reliability issues' with the 2Ku system. Delta use it as well and have been publicly apologising that it's not working properly. Hopefully these are just teething problems on what is, after all, still a relatively new system.
This is from a week ago but there were still issues yesterday:

https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/0...bility-issues/
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Old Mar 10, 2018, 3:47 pm
  #156  
 
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On a 77W with wifi,working quite well. Can't read the registration from flight radar 24 because of tired red eyes but the connection is good BA168
[eidt] is G-STBE
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Old Mar 24, 2018, 12:52 pm
  #157  
 
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Soo. 6 months has now passed since this thread was created and we've got 6 aircraft with wifi..
By 2019, over 90 per cent of the airline's fleet will be Wi–Fi enabled.
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Old Mar 25, 2018, 5:21 am
  #158  
 
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Was on BA 278 yesterday from SJC to LHR on Dreamliner - No Wifi.
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Old Mar 25, 2018, 5:23 am
  #159  
 
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Originally Posted by navatwal
Was on BA 278 yesterday from SJC to LHR on Dreamliner - No Wifi.
No BA Dreamliners currently have passenger wifi.
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Old Mar 25, 2018, 7:24 am
  #160  
 
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Did the 777 ex-LGW G-VIIX that came back from Singapore refurb get WiFi fitted? This would make sense but maybe not if it’s not done in SIN...
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Old Mar 25, 2018, 9:39 am
  #161  
 
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Was on BA117 last Friday to New York (744) and it has WiFi.

First hour was free if you register, no credit card details needed. Was actually impressed with the service.
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Old Mar 26, 2018, 12:39 am
  #162  
 
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Only five long haul heavies and not one short haul with WiFi? Whatever is the hold up? This is surely comically behind schedule.
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Old Mar 26, 2018, 3:50 am
  #163  
 
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Originally Posted by skipness1E
Only five long haul heavies and not one short haul with WiFi? Whatever is the hold up? This is surely comically behind schedule.
Quite a lot of the short haul aircraft have actually been fitted, 2 Wi-Fi receivers on the bottom of the aircraft. The delay will be due to CAA radio licensing or the Wi-Fi ground towers that are set to be used.
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Old Mar 26, 2018, 4:20 am
  #164  
 
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It's important to reiterate that there are two different systems, one for long-haul, one for short-haul. BA themselves don't make that very clear. Both solutions are very new, and in my opinion it was the right decision to roll out something more future-proof which means it will actually be useful for something.

The short-haul Inmarsat/Deutsche Telekom network is just about getting ready for commercial use. BA didn't do themselves favours by not distinguishing between the long-haul network (ready, but very new and teething problems) and the short-haul network (not even quite ready yet), and especially for the latter there isn't really delays, but it was never going to be ready when announced to begin with. Also, for the long-haul network, there are still entire aircraft types (such as the 787) that don't have an antenna solution available from Gogo at all yet.

Originally Posted by Naz1
Quite a lot of the short haul aircraft have actually been fitted, 2 Wi-Fi receivers on the bottom of the aircraft. The delay will be due to CAA radio licensing or the Wi-Fi ground towers that are set to be used.
The shorthaul network won't be using Wifi ground towers, but cellular downstream over land, a bit like the original Gogo, with Satellite upstream, and Satellite downstream over the sea. I don't think the CAA has much to do with this now, as this is a pan-European network and the aircraft certifications will be done. Viasat is currently throwing its toys out of the pram because of that land-based component, but that legal challenge doesn't seem to have delayed things, and it should ensure that the bandwidth will be useable if this is picked up by more and more airlines. Details here: https://inflight.telekom.net/ean

So, short of BA rushing the announcements to combat Norwegian, I think this is all just as quick or slow as had to be expected...
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Old Mar 26, 2018, 12:57 pm
  #165  
 
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Originally Posted by Calum
Soo. 6 months has now passed since this thread was created and we've got 6 aircraft with wifi..
There are more. G-STBL has it fitted (mentioned on Twitter on Feb 25th that it was fitted 'a few weeks ago').
CIVW, CIVY and a couple of the BYG's have had major maintenance recently which you'd assume would include wifi fitting.

The problem is that BA don't announce which planes have it until you're on board so you're relying on tweets, messages on here or hoping someone at BA Enginerring comes along with a list of aircraft that have it.
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