You don’t have to worry about patchy in-flight Wi-Fi connections the next time you travel to the US.
Emirates Airline has revealed that by 2022 passengers will be able to enjoy Wi-Fi, make phone calls and watch live TV even when flying 40,000 feet over the North Pole and Arctic circle.
Travellers on US-bound flights often find themselves without connectivity for up to four hours while flying over Polar regions.
Currently, most satellites that connect to the aircraft are geostationary, located over the equator, which makes it difficult for them to connect to the aircraft antennae when in the far north.
Emirates' partner Inmarsat will soon solve this problem by adding two elliptical orbit satellites to provide nonstop coverage over the North Pole.
More than 1 million Wi-Fi connections are currently made on board Emirates’ flights each month.