A 12-seater aircraft owned by the Essar Group has been Wi-Fi-enabled into a wireless 'Hot Spot' allowing passengers high-speed internet connectivity while flying.

D-Link (India) Ltd. converted the aircraft by installing its equipment with USB interface in the aircraft enabling executives carrying Wi-Fi enabled laptops to stay connected during a flight. The internet connectivity is provided through satellite connection service.

The Wi-Fi installation enables any laptop on board to access the internet at best speeds currently available — 4-gigabytes per second and share a printer installed in the aircraft.

According to P Vyas, director, sales and marketing, D-Link (India), The airborne Wi-Fi connectivity is the first of its kind in India. "Such an installation would be normal in an office but doing it on an aircraft made it a difficult challenge for our engineers," says Vyas.

In-flight connectivity may turn out to be the most important productivity tool for business travelers. The leaders in the aviation industry are successfully trying out high-speed wireless access in commercial aircrafts. Internet access on scheduled airline flights has been recently introduced and currently available on 65 aircrafts from 11 airlines. It expected that by the end of 2006, over 150 aircrafts would be Wi-Fi enabled.