Ryanair will this year begin trialling a free-to-access wireless in-flight entertainment service that will stream content from an onboard server to passengers' own electronic devices.
The Irish budget carrier is also keen to introduce in-flight wi-fi connectivity as soon as it becomes less cost-prohibitive.
Ryanair chief technology officer John Hurley tells Flightglobal that passengers on certain flights will be offered the opportunity to stream TV shows and films to their own smartphones, tablets and laptops this summer. If the trial proves successful, the service "will be rolled out later in the year".
It will initially be a "limited trial" offered on "three to four" aircraft, Hurley indicates, though he adds: "It could be more, it could be less." The idea is that a series of "targeted adverts" will be shown before and after a film or TV programme, enabling the airline to cover the cost of the service without having to charge passengers to use it.
Ryanair is in talks with "two partners", but Hurley declines to disclose which service provider it will work with on the trial. A similar service was launched by Monarch Airlines last August, when it unveiled its MPlayer personal in-flight entertainment system.
Monarch teamed up with UK-based avionics technology company AeroFi to provide an onboard wireless streaming service which runs from an aircraft server located underneath the flightdeck.
In the longer term, Ryanair is looking "big time" at offering inflight wi-fi, says Hurley, but this will depend on the implementation and running costs of such a system coming down. To install a satellite-based onboard connectivity system, aircraft must be retrofitted with antennae, which Hurley says create an extra "1-2% drag".
An air-to-ground (ATG) service such as the Gogo system in use by a number of carriers in the USA is not yet available in Europe, although satellite operator Inmarsat is in the process of developing a hybrid satellite-based/ATG service, which Hurley says is "one possibility" for the airline.
If and when Ryanair introduces in-flight wi-fi, that will likely be offered on flights with a stage length of 2-3h, because "on a 30min hop from Dublin to Liverpool, there would be no point", says Hurley.
As far as pricing goes, the Ryanair CTO says he is "not fully sure" whether the carrier would charge passengers for the service. "We have to work out the cost to fit our aircraft out," he says, adding that one possibility would be to follow JetBlue Airways' example of offering certain basic services, such as email and other light internet platforms, for free and charging for more bandwidth-heavy amenities.
Ryanair could take a leaf out of Vueling's book and find a partner that will provide in-flight connectivity at no charge. The Barcelona-based carrier last year signed such an agreement with Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, satellite operator Eutelsat and Thales unit LiveTV. Hurley says the Irish carrier is "in talks" with some of the same companies.
"The reality is that the world is going wi-fi," says Hurley. "It's becoming as important as running water for most people." He notes that, in addition to satisfying passenger demand to stay connected to email and social media, a connected aircraft offers numerous operational benefits, such as the ability to carry out real-time credit card transactions and the opportunities afforded by using electronic flightbags to take paper out of the cockpit.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
