Mango's fleet is online with G-Connect In-Flight Wi-Fi service

Traffic of approximately 9 000 e-mails, 1 678 tweets and 652 Facebook posts were logged with a total of 27 000 sessions during the beta phase, expected to end by November. Mango and G-Connect are celebrating the completion of the fleet roll-out by offering on-board connectivity at R1 for a day pass and R2 for a week's access pass during October on all flights.

Innovations play a huge role

Over the past six years Mango has embraced technology and innovation to deliver direct business advantage says CEO Nico Bezuidenhout. "Since our launch, we have set ourselves a target of a ground-breaking innovation every year. Mango is forging ahead at pace and it has delivered substantially to the growth of the business." He estimates that as many as 30% of guests elect to fly Mango as a direct result of its various innovations. "Mango invests in assets that make it easier to do business with us," says Bezuidenhout.

CEO of G-Connect, Carel van der Merwe, says that even while travelling at 855km/h through the sky, broadband at altitude delivers speed which compares favourably to the same broadband connectivity on land. "The service has seen a 98% up-time throughout with usage, we anticipate, growing to a 12% uptake following the completion of fleet roll-out.

Use is focused on emails

"Interestingly we have seen the majority of use focused on sending and receiving e-mail, showing that the potential for upping productivity during a two hour flight has become an important business tool. We expect e-mail traffic to increase by 60% over the next couple of months with social media posts likely growing in tandem with general usage increases. Effective connectivity is essential and Wi-Fi in the sky will soon become another standard amenity - travellers will change airlines just to have it," says Van der Merwe.

Mango is currently the only airline on the African continent to offer the service. "It has delivered a significant competitive edge to Mango," says Bezuidenhout, who believes that during current challenging economic conditions product differentiation has become critical in attracting customers from a declining base.