Wi-Fi arrives at UK airports

Airport operator BAA has signed a deal that will take Wi-Fi access to six major British airports.

Signing a deal with ISP The Cloud, which already provides Wi-Fi at several non-BAA airports, travellers will be able to access the internet from a wide variety of locations.

Users can buy a voucher that will be useable at any of The Cloud's sites, meaning that a traveller at Heathrow will be able to check emails there and reconnect at Edinburgh. Duncan Tolson, director of commercial telecoms and media at BAA said: "We have seen growing demand for high-speed, convenient access to the Internet and associated services and this partnership will help us meet that demand."

Wi-Fi is increasing in popularity with many airports around the globe offering the service along with several cities and train stations as more laptops and gaming devices use the technology.

By providing Wi-Fi in the major public seating and retail areas in the arrivals and departure lounges, users can check email, make calls via VoIP or play games on the Nintendo DS.

The Cloud's system is also designed to be compatible with Skype, O2, BT Openzone and credEcard, while the firm will sell vouchers that allows connections between 30 minutes and 24 hours.

Recent research shows that a quarter of US executives and almost one in five UK executives rely on Wi-Fi hotspots when travelling on business, meaning that many of BAA's 140 million annual passengers are likely to benefit from the changes.

Stansted airport went live this Monday with Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton following by the end of the month.