ITASCA, Ill., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- As recently as last year, people wondered whether the Internet could ever be successfully delivered to a broad audience in flight. Proving that where there's a will, there's a way, Aircell took up the challenge and has never looked back. Over the past year, Aircell has steadily increased the daily number of airplanes deployed with Gogo® Inflight Internet service and today, is providing service on more than 600 commercial aircraft.
With the growing availability of Gogo, passengers are increasingly able to connect in-flight and are doing so at an accelerating rate. Starting on only a handful of planes a year ago, availability and usage have expanded rapidly and Gogo served its one millionth customer in October 2009. At the current rate of expansion and with users fast approaching 100,000 per week, the two millionth user is now expected to be reached in January 2010.
"While public debates continue regarding whether passengers will pay for the service, the hundreds of thousands of paid Gogo sessions every month have answered that question," said Ron LeMay, Aircell President and CEO.
"By recognizing this milestone and the rapid growth curve we are on, we are celebrating the countless ways Inflight Internet has changed - and enhanced - the flying experience," added LeMay. "Our customers are not just e-mail checkers and instant-messagers who use Gogo to quickly accomplish a task and then log off. They are also Facebook and Twitter fanatics, fantasy football moguls, photo-uploaders, music-downloaders and video-watchers. Gogo is their 'time machine,' making time fly by as they are able to immerse themselves in the things that matter most to them. They log onto Gogo as soon as the plane reaches 10,000 feet and don't log off until they have to. In fact, they spend twice as much time on Gogo as a visitor to the average ground-based hot spot."
It is clear that the rapid expansion of Gogo Inflight Internet is due to the quality and speed of the service and the superior customer experience it delivers. In a recent survey conducted by Lucidity Research, more than 90 percent of respondents stated that they were fully satisfied with their Gogo experience. In addition, the vast majority of air travelers who've used Gogo indicate they are likely to recommend it to others and attest to this by using it again and again themselves. At this still early stage more than 30 percent of the people who log onto Gogo each day are repeat users, and that figure is climbing daily.
"Having recently found in our own studies that a large number of airline passengers would rather have Internet than meals in-flight, it's not surprising to see the take rates Gogo has experienced," said Kelly Davis-Felner, marketing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. "Travelers want to use Wi-Fi in flight so they can stay connected with their offices, colleagues, friends and families on the ground. They see tremendous value in the service and are not only willing to pay for it, but are also likely to become repeat customers and champions of the service."
About Aircell
Aircell is the world's leading provider of airborne communications. As winner of an exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006, Aircell has built a revolutionary mobile broadband network for commercial and business aviation. In 2008, the Aircell® Network and its inflight portal, Gogo®, revolutionized the commercial airline passenger flight experience by delivering a robust Internet experience at 35,000 feet. In addition, the Aircell Network provides airlines with connectivity to operations and a path to enhanced cabin services such as video, audio, television and more. A similar feature set is available to Business aircraft operators. Aircell has facilities in Broomfield, Colorado, and Itasca, Illinois. Aircell's vision is to give everyone the ability to stay in touch, in flight®. For more information about Aircell, please visit www.aircell.com.
About Gogo
Gogo®, powered by Aircell® , turns a commercial airplane into a Wi-Fi hotspot with true inflight Internet access. Passengers with Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, can surf the Web, check e-mail, instant message, access a corporate VPN and more. For more information about Gogo, please visit www.gogoinflight.com. You can also follow 'gogoInflight' on Twitter (www.twitter.com/gogoinflight) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/gogoinflight).
© 2009 Aircell LLC. Aircell, Gogo and in touch, in flight are trademarks of Aircell or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
SOURCE: Aircell
Web site: http://www.aircell.com/