Thailand’s low cost carrier Nok Air will be offering complimentary inflight broadband with maximum speed of 8mb/s starting with its newest Boeing 737-800 aircraft that is still being assembled. The new aircraft will be equipped to work with Thaicom In-flight connectivity broadband service (Ku-band) with its partner Global Eagle Entertainment/Row44. Nok Air is the first low cost carrier in South East Asia to offer free inflight WiFi.
Nok Air’s rationale for offering free WiFi is that consumers today expect free WiFi. Free WiFi is offered in cafes, malls and hotels these days.
Nok Air expects the service to start latest by August this year pending regulatory approvals from DCA, STC and FAA. Planning and design for this service started two years ago.
Customers can expect 3G-like speed. The Service will be rolled out to six aircraft initially with plans to increase that to 30 in the future.
When Nok Air first introduced free Wi-Fi at the departure gates in Thailand, the airline saw a substantial increase in customers flying the airline.
It targets the youth market which remain connectivity through social media. This market segment currently contributes 30% of its revenue streams.
Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin was present at the joint press conference in Singapore with representatives from Thaicom and Global Eagle Entertainment.
His most memorable quote was “AirAsia can just stuff it”.
Nok Air currently operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 737-800s and two ATR-72 500s.
