There is no network in the passengers’ phones during the flight journey.
New Delhi: Did you ever wonder how does Wi-Fi work in flights at a height of 30-40 thousand feet?
Here we will share with you the process of providing network and Wi-Fi signals in airborne flights.
There is no network in the passengers’ phones during the flight journey. At the same time, many airlines do not provide Wi-Fi facility in most flights. But now Air India is providing Wi-Fi facility in select flights in India.
Internet is available through the air-to-ground system in the flight. In this technique, an antenna on the aircraft picks up a signal from the nearest tower on the ground. However, when the aircraft passes through an area from where it cannot get signals, like a sea or mountains, the network does not function.
In addition, the flight has a satellite-based Wi-Fi system. In this, the satellite sends signals directly to the antennas on the aircraft. The air-to-ground network uses satellites to transmit signals first to a ground-based transmitter and then to an aircraft antenna.
In foreign countries, the facility of inflight Wi-Fi is quite popular. In fact, two major US airlines, Delta and United, said that more than 1.5 million passengers use their inflight Wi-Fi service every month. JetBlue Airlines said its service is used by millions of customers every year.
In India, Air India is going to provide inflight Wi-Fi facility soon. However, this facility will initially be provided in select Air India flights. The Wi-Fi service will be available on the airline’s Airbus A350, Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321 Neo aircraft. The airline is already under an ongoing pilot programme.