El Al Israel Airlines begins in-flight Wi-Fi service with Viasat tech
July 12, 2018
TEL AVIV -- El Al Israel Airlines has outfitted a mix of its Boeing fleet with commercial in-flight Wi-Fi service powered by communications group Viasat Inc.
The service, launched earlier this week, is available aboard 15 of El Al's 787 Dreamliners, 737-900s and 737-800s, with plans to install Viasat equipment on the majority of its remaining planes by mid-2020.
Viasat said El Al is it's first European launch customer, and that the initiative followed a broad market study focused on in-flight Wi-Fi demand.
The service offers passengers high-speed Ka-band connections via the ViaSat-2 satellite, with coverage from North America to Europe.
"We invested in the most advanced in-flight Wi-Fi product from Viasat so that we could best respond to our custoemrs' interests, from surfing sites, connecting to emails, using apps, viewing social media networks, listening to music and streaming movies and live sports during flights," said Nimrod Borovitz, director of Strategy and Business Development at El Al. "El Al chose Viasat's in-flight Wi-Fi system because they had the most advanced product."
The company said the service will also allow flight crews to provide "enhanced passenger service".
