BA in talks on Europe’s first high-speed inflight internet

British Airways is in talks with communications satellite operator Inmarsat plc on establishing Europe’s first high-speed inflight internet service.

Negotiations are at an “advanced stage”, with British Airways planning to introduce the technology on UK domestic routes, the companies said in a statement from Inmarsat.

Inmarsat will spend as much as $250m (€183m) on a ground network and S-band satellite. The only existing ground-to-air 4G broadband network is in North America, where AT&T Inc. said in April it would offer a service from as early as late 2015 to compete with market leader Gogo Inc.