(This story originally appeared in on Mar 21, 2017)

NEW DELHI: You might be able to send emails as you fly within the country by July.Air India is planning to have Wi-Fi on board its Airbus A-320 planes that are the mainstay of its domestic operations . Once this happens, other Indian airlines may follow suit.“We are working on having Wi-Fi on our planes. We have issued expression of interest and will take the aircraft manufacturer’s nod to install Wi-Fi equipment. Though giving an exact date is difficult, we are aiming to start this by June or July,” AI chief Ashwani Lohani said.AI did not specify how much data and what speed it is looking at.Since the connection is likely to be free, it may start with a basic pack for free and later move on to paid data packs. The free basic pack will allow receiving and sending mails and checking WhatsApp.Depending on passenger feedback, AI may go in for bigger paid data packs. Leading international airlines that offer on board Wi-Fi have been following this model.For instance, a big Gulf carrier with massive presence in India offers 10 MB of free data which is enough to search, send emails and update Facebook. Beyond this, flyers can pay for additional data to stay connected throughout the flight. Global carriers offer price plans that are either volume-based or time-based.Volume-based price plans are usually only valid on the flight sector they’re purchased on. A southeast Asian carrier, for instance, offers time-based unlimited data pack with 24-hour validity for Rs 1,175 to Rs 1,400, depending on the service provider.Data is clearly emerging as a big source of revenue for airlines.At present, no Indian airline offers on board internet and AI may be the first to do so. A Jet Airways official said, “Enabling complete Wi-Fi connectivity on board is the next obvious milestone, pending in-principle approvals from the government.”Other airlines did not comment on this issue, while most of them are examining the option of rolling out Wi-Fi. Foreign airlines which have internet on board are allowed to keep it on in Indian airspace only if they have a local server. If they do not have a local server, they have to keep their internet on-board switched off for the time their plane is in Indian airspace.