Russian Aeroflot Planning Internet on its Flights

Russian Aeroflot is the oldest of the existing Russian airlines (it was the only air operator in the Soviet era) and it is rarely willing to innovate but right now it seems to be open to innovation – open enough to become the first Russian air carrier to offer internet and mobile communications on board its airplanes.

This plan has just been announced by the CEO of the company who has mentioned that there is no final decision yet and they will still have to consider how profitable the entire idea will be (if at all) because equipping one airplane with everything that is needed to provide such new communication services to passengers requires investments of hundreds of thousand dollars per plane.

So currently Aeroflot is negotiating the conditions with telecommunication providers, including OnAir, the operator that powers Ryanair, the European pioneer of mobile communications in flight. And while the projects involving installation of the required equipment on aircraft are pretty standardized by now, there are still authorizations and approvals to be signed by manufacturers before such projects can be implemented at all – so this is yet another condition that should be met before project implementation is initiated.

Even if this intention actually turns into reality, I’d expect Aeroflot to only introduce such services on the airplanes that are operated on international flights – simply because this is where they will have enough demand while on local flights I would not bet people will want to pay for internet and cell phone use, especially on shorter flights less than 3 hours.

Of course I can’t help but feel proud that at least one Russian air operator is willing to consider providing advanced telecommunications services on board since we are usually about 5 years behind in everything that is technological progress – and this is certainly a step that is pretty reassuring. But at the same time no on-board internet will make me choose Aeroflot over Delta or American Airlines on my way to the US simply because the overall level of service still matters more and I really can live without my cell phone and without checking Gmail or Twitter for half a day. But of course if you are considering Aeroflot for your trip to Russia, this new project could probably help make your buying decision – especially if internet matters more to you personally.

Via (in Russian), photo credit