You could soon be checking email, Facebook and WhatsApp on domestic flights

Centre may allow Internet access by August-end; you will also be able make phone calls over Wi-Fi

Customers will soon be able to use WhatsApp, access email, and log on to Facebook on their flights, as the Centre is likely to permit internet accessibility by August-end. 

The civil aviation ministry has, for a long time, been trying to push "very very" hard to introduce wi-fi facilities on board flights. To permit on board wi-fi services, amendments would be required to the provisions of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Telegraph Rules. 

If and when implemented, passengers would not only be able to access the internet but also make phone calls over Wi-Fi from flights. Currently, Wi-Fi services are not allowed on flights over the Indian airspace.

"We're awaiting clearance from the Department of Telecommunications. International airlines are in talks with the aviation ministry. Currently, they have to switch off wi-fi in the Indian airspace (where in-flight internet is banned on security grounds)," Lalit Gupta, joint DG, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), told the Times of India. 

Gupta added that Indian carriers such as Jet Airways and SpiceJet are scheduled to take deliveries of the wi-fi-fitted Boeing 737 MAX by mid-2018. 

As many as 70 carriers across the world offer internet access in the flights. However, they have to switch off the facility once they enter the Indian airspace. Passengers can thus access email, live stream, social media even make calls. These include carriers that fly into India such as Air Asia, Lufthansa, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad.