[Courtesy of Korean Air]
South Korea is respected as one of the world's most wired societies. Passengers are often puzzled, however, over why its top flag carrier Korean Air has no in-flight wireless internet connection.
South Korea has built-in Wi-Fi (wireless local area network) hotspots just about everywhere. Considering how South Koreans craze over a fast internet connection, many would expect Korean Air to provide an in-flight Wi-Fi service to passengers. Unfortunately, it doesn't.
Dante Dionne, Korean Air's senior innovation technology officer, told US magazine APEX: "I believe that passengers have similar expectations for in-flight and on-ground content and connectivity options.
"For example, in Korea, the wireless infrastructure is so advanced that in-flight internet services based on existing commercial satellite technology would be disappointing to them. That is a primary reason why Korean Air has not implemented in-flight Internet."
This could be surprising for some as more than 15 airline companies worldwide including American Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Singapore Airlines provide free or paid in-flight Wi-Fi access. American Airlines charges passengers 12 US dollars for a two-hour in-flight Wi-Fi pass, 14 dollars for a day pass, and 19 dollars for a full duration of flight.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
