Oct 1, 17, 2:57 am
Last edit by: Prospero
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:
Note that prices and services offered are subject to change.
787-8 - G-ZBJA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/M
787-9 - G-ZBKE/F/R/S
All aircraft except those due for retirement soon have the WiFi hardware fitted but it hasn't been enabled on the whole fleet yet. The system went live on the first few aircraft in March 2019 with full rollout originally announced as expected 'by the end of summer 2019' but now expected during 2020.
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 - All fitted (17 aircraft)
G-TTNT didn't have WiFi installed shortly after delivery (post #806)
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 - 1.99 or 2.99 depending on flight distance.
Browse & Stream (one hour) - 4.99
Browse & Stream (whole flight)
4.99 (MAN / NCL)
6.99 (ARN / HAM)
7.99 (KRK / LIS / MAS / PMI)
8.99 (AGP)
9.99 (LED / SOF)
11.99 (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:
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: 7.99
- 4 hours: 17.99
- Full flight: up to 23.99 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
All aircraft except those due for retirement soon have the WiFi hardware fitted but it hasn't been enabled on the whole fleet yet. The system went live on the first few aircraft in March 2019 with full rollout originally announced as expected 'by the end of summer 2019' but now expected during 2020.
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 - All fitted (17 aircraft)
G-TTNT didn't have WiFi installed shortly after delivery (post #806)
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 - 1.99 or 2.99 depending on flight distance.
Browse & Stream (one hour) - 4.99
Browse & Stream (whole flight)
4.99 (MAN / NCL)
6.99 (ARN / HAM)
7.99 (KRK / LIS / MAS / PMI)
8.99 (AGP)
9.99 (LED / SOF)
11.99 (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:
FAQ : Status of on-board WiFi rollout on BA aircraft
Mar 4, 18, 7:43 am
#151
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 6,936
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...
Mar 4, 18, 8:17 am
#152
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 18,655
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.
Mar 6, 18, 2:02 am
#155
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 673
This is from a week ago but there were still issues yesterday:
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/0...bility-issues/
Mar 25, 18, 6:23 am
#159
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: A hop, skip and jump away from MAN.
Programs: BAEC Gold, ex-VS Gold, ex-UA Gold, Premier Inn Platinum-Iridium
Posts: 1,101
Mar 25, 18, 10:39 am
#161
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Berkshire
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, MUCCI Fan Club
Posts: 1,762
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.
First hour was free if you register, no credit card details needed. Was actually impressed with the service.
Mar 26, 18, 4:50 am
#163
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 33
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.
Mar 26, 18, 5:20 am
#164
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Greater Metropolitan Area
Programs: Yes
Posts: 363
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.
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...
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.
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...
Mar 26, 18, 1:57 pm
#165
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 673
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.
