Business Travel Executive, October 2017

TECH FILES Business Travel Executive OCTOBER 2017 40 Sky Links Satellites and a new fleet of connected aircraft mean inflight WiFi may be coming of age at last Business Travelers Think AI and VR Can Enhance the Journey Over half of US business travelers 55 percent believe artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies can improve their travel experiences according to a new study from Egencia the business travel arm of Expedia However the survey also found travelers recognize the need for balance between technology and human interaction In the same way as disruptors in other technology led industries investments in new technologies such as AI and VR that simplify and improve the travel experience will win over business travelers and drive significant change in the corporate travel industry overall said Michael Gulmann chief product officer at Egencia However he added that businesses cant rely on technology alone According to the survey business travelers outside the US have lower confidence levels and are far less optimistic about the use of these new technologies overall Today for business fliers the most critical development aloft is connectivity which means the ability to surf the web take phone calls send e mails and have an online experience in the air similar to one they would expect on the ground So increasingly inflight systems have turned to satellite technology both to provide the kind of speed and reliability users expect and to extend coverage over those long haul transoceanic routes and over land masses that are currently out of reach of ground based systems Heres a roundup of what some global airlines are working on to keep you online while youre on board Air Canada The Canadian flag carrier has announced plans to extend its inflight WiFi offering to the airlines wide body fleet with connectivity being provided by Gogos 2Ku satellite technology Air Canada already offers WiFi on all of its 129 strong narrow body fleet serving North America including Embraer jets and the carriers fleet of A319 A320 and A321 aircraft aircanada com Air France KLM Air France now offers inflight WiFi on its newest 787 9 aircraft two of which have been delivered since the start of this year Sister carrier KLM already offers WiFi on its fleet of Boeing Dreamliner aircraft The group also plans to roll out the technology to 124 A330 and 777 aircraft starting from the end of 2017 airfrance co uk klm com ANA All Nippon Airways inflight WiFi offering gives fliers in all classes access to functions such as web browsing and e mail functions Video streaming is not supported and image loading is likely to burn through your data quite quickly For travelers flying on ANAs 777 300ER and 767 300ER the service is only available when flying over transoceanic airspace and countries that permit the use of satellite activity while 787 and A320 inflight connectivity is available in all airspaces ana co jp British Airways BA has launched its new long haul WiFi service with the technology initially being offered on one 747 aircraft and second due to be fitted in July Access is available across two connection speeds Simply Connect for basic web browsing and Connect Plus which can handle video streaming Prices range from 499 650 to 2399 31 depending on type and duration of connection ba com Cathay Pacific The flag carrier launched its new inflight WiFi offering on its new A350 aircraft last year with 14 of the widebody aircraft now in service on routes including Hong Kong Gatwick Prices range from 995 for one hours access to 1295 for connectivity throughout the flight on routes of six hours or less and 1995 on routes over six hours cathaypacific com Concur Unveils Its Hipmunk Service Concur has launched Concur Hipmunk following the acquisition of the travel shopping site Hipmunk last year The service targets small businesses with an array of services including discounts on air hotel and car rental bookings self writing expense reports TripIt Pro integration and itinerary capture and the ability to monitor bookings as they occur Concur Hipmunk is a lightweight T E solution built on top of Hipmunk technology Concur Expense and TripLink giving small businesses the basic tools access and visibility they need today according to Tim MacDonald chief product officer for Concur