IBERIA long-haul flights will soon have Wi-Fi access on board – albeit at a cost.
The airline confirms that 25 Airbus A330 and A340 will include internet access at five euros for 5MB.
Although this is one of the more expensive in-flight Wi-Fi services – Gogo costs 14 USD for 24 hours with no download limit – the facility is still very hard to find among airlines in general and shows a massive step forward in passenger convenience in the 21st-century, as well as a pioneering move in Europe.
Other highly-modern services to be offered by Iberia in the near future include a new social network site, a personalised 'app' for Smartphones, a brand-new user-friendly website with a much 'cleaner' layout and easy connections to Facebook and LinkedIn.
This system even allows travellers to choose passengers to sit next to using their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles, following in the footsteps of Dutch airline KLM, and which has been baptised by Iberia as 'social seating'.
A further feature of the website is an 'inspirational search engine', which allows users to describe their interests when travelling – such as relaxation, shopping, beach holidays, culture and history, countryside, adventure or sports – and be given suggestions as to possible destinations, which can be filtered by price and include a downloadable travel guide.
The Wi-Fi service will be gradually rolled out between now and 2015, although the first aircraft to include the facility will be taking off in the next few weeks.
