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Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will provide onboard wireless internet on selected routes to Europe before the end of the year.
Speaking today at the World Broadband Forum in Paris, Etihad CEO James Hogan said: “I can tell you that Etihad will have two aircraft with operational onboard internet by December this year, and five aircraft by March, 2012
“Three of those five aircraft will be Airbus A330-300s, which will operate between Abu Dhabi and cities like Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Munich and Paris. And we are right at the point now of settling on a fleet-wide connectivity solution for the years to come.”
He added airlines around the world now faced pressure from customers to make broadband internet access standard on all flights, but cautioned the industry to invest wisely in wireless innovation.
He said: “Perhaps the biggest challenge is to stay in synch on this incredibly fast and exciting journey into the future. Annually, airlines invest billions in aircraft and millions in inflight entertainment and other trappings, years before the aircraft enter service. Changes in technology move at the speed of light... There is an ever present danger of investing heavily in a system or hardware that is likely to be obsolete by the time it rolls off the production line.”
In a wide-ranging speech concerned with the effects of the internet revolution on the aviation industry, Hogan said wireless processes enabled huge financial savings to be made.
“The associated changes now deliver around $18bn in efficiency savings each year, some of which is passed on to customers, some of which enables continued reinvestment.”
He added Etihad’s online sales in July, 2011, were up 71 percent on the previous year.
“The day is approaching when the greater part of our selling and CRM will be digital, particularly via smartphone and tablet devices,” he said.
About Etihad
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2010 carried more than seven million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad serves 72 cities in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, with a fleet of 61 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. It has more than 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. For more information, please visit: www.etihadairways.com
For more information contact:
Damian Reilly, Corporate Communications Manager
Etihad Airways
Mob: +97150 6427506
Dir: +971 (0) 2 511 1091
Email: dreilly@etihad.ae
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