EVA Air has taken delivery of two new Boeing 777-300ERs, both fully line-fitted with AeroMobile’s inflight connectivity service.
The aircraft took their delivery flights from Boeing’s Seattle headquarters in the U.S. to Taipei in Taiwan on 21 May 2014.
The two B777-300ERs are the first of seven new aircraft that will be delivered to EVA Air with inflight mobile services from AeroMobile activated.
The AeroMobile network allows passengers to roam just as they would abroad, and EVA Air passengers will be able to send SMS messages and browse the internet inflight, using their own mobile devices.
AeroMobile has roaming agreements with more than 260 mobile phone operators worldwide, including Taiwanese networks Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone / KGT and Taiwan Mobile.
The service is simple to use; passengers simply turn on their mobile device to connect to the network and passengers are billed by their own mobile phone operator. Prices vary depending on individual contracts.
The first two fully-connected aircraft will primarily serve the North American market, with the service being rolled out to other destinations as more planes come into service.
“EVA Air has made a significant commitment to rolling out mobile connectivity on its new fleet, recognising the increasing demand from customers who want to stay connected whenever, wherever,” said Kevin Rogers, CEO of AeroMobile.
“Last year we saw close to an 80 per cent increase in the number of passengers using their mobile devices in the aircraft cabin, and we expect the demand to continue to rise this year,” he continued.
“Asia is a huge growth area for AeroMobile. EVA Air is our second Asian airline customer following Singapore Airlines and a number of other Asian airlines are scheduled to launch the service in the coming months,” said Rogers.