Air France launches free ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi on board all its aircraft

Air France is revolutionizing its onboard Wi-Fi service, a major step in its move upmarket. 

From 2025 onwards, the airline will progressively roll out an ultra-high-speed connectivity service for a “ground-like” experience. This new service, completely free of charge in all travel cabins, will be accessible to customers by logging into their Flying Blue* account. 

Over time, this Wi-Fi service will be made available on board all the airline’s aircraft, replacing the current offer.

To launch this new onboard Wi-Fi service, Air France has chosen Starlink, the world leader in connectivity. By leveraging the world’s largest constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, Starlink offers high-speed, low-latency Internet access across the entire globe, including the most isolated areas**. This makes for a stable, fast, and secure user experience.

During the flight, customers will be able to easily stay in touch with friends and family, follow all the world’s news live, play video games online, and of course stream TV, films, and series.

The service will be accessible from smartphones, digital tablets, and laptops, and each customer will be able to connect several devices simultaneously.

Customers will be able to access this service by logging into their Flying Blue* account, the Air France-KLM Group’s loyalty program. Those who do not yet have a Flying Blue account can create one free of charge on board and in just a few clicks.

As of the summer 2025 season, Air France will gradually equip all its aircraft with this cutting-edge technology, including its regional fleet. During this transitional period, the airline will continue to offer a connectivity service on board aircraft that are not yet equipped, including a free “Message Pass” for Flying Blue members and a paid offer*** that covers other needs.

* La Première customers will continue to connect directly.

** Restrictions may apply when flying over certain countries.

*** Free offer for Flying Blue Ultimate and La Première customers

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Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world. As the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit, Starlink delivers monitored broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more. Starlink is engineered and operated by SpaceX.

Hawaiian Airlines offering fast and free Starlink Wi-Fi on its Airbus fleet

Hawaiian Airlines confirmed it is now offering Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi free of charge to guests onboard all Airbus-operated flights between the islands and the continental U.S, Asia and Oceania.

Hawaiian, which became the first major U.S. carrier to debut Starlink in February on its Airbus A321neo aircraft, has now completed Starlink installation across its 24 A330 fleet.

Guests can easily connect to Starlink the moment they step onboard the aircraft – just as they would connect to their home internet, and experience internet at speeds suitable for working, streaming video and gaming.

“Becoming the first major airline to offer travellers Starlink at no cost is a remarkable achievement for our team, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response from guests who have been enjoying our industry-leading connectivity onboard,” said Evan Nomura, director of inflight entertainment and connectivity and onboard products at Hawaiian Airlines.

United signs deal with Musk's SpaceX Starlink to provide connectivity in the sky - for free

The U.S. mega-carrier United has signed a special deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink's fast, reliable, monitored Wi-Fi service to the airline's mainline and regional aircraft fleet, for free.

That means that United customers will soon enjoy the same high-speed, low-latency internet service in the air that they enjoy on the ground. The new, gate-to-gate connectivity will unlock game-changing experiences in the sky at a scale that no other major U.S. airline provides like access to live TV and streaming services, social media, shopping, gaming and more, on seatback screens and personal devices simultaneously.

United expects to have Starlink on all United aircraft – more than 1,000 planes – over the next several years. Testing begins in early 2025 with the first passenger flights expected later that year.

Starlink service on United aircraft will be free.

Leveraging advanced satellites with its deep experience in both spacecraft and on-orbit operations, Starlink is engineered by SpaceX and delivers internet access around the world, including over oceans, polar regions and other remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell or Wi-Fi signals. United is the largest airline across both the Atlantic and Pacific and will be the first carrier in the world to commit to offering Starlink service at this scale.

"Everything you can do on the ground, you'll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "This connectivity opens the door for an even better inflight entertainment experience, in every seatback – more content, that's more personalized. United's culture of innovation is, once again, delivering big for our customers."

"We're excited to team up with United Airlines to transform the inflight experience," said Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer at SpaceX. "With Starlink onboard your United flight, you'll have access to the world's most advanced high-speed internet from gate to gate, and all the miles in between."

Cathay Pacific introduces complimentary Wi-Fi for First and Business class passengers

Cathay Pacific keeps its customers connected with complimentary Wi-Fi in First and Business class

Free Wi-Fi services will also soon be extended to Cathay Diamond members

Customers travelling in First or Business class onboard connected Cathay Pacific aircraft can now enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi service on their flight – the latest enhancement the airline is making to the inflight customer experience.

Cathay Pacific has been providing complimentary Wi-Fi services to First class customers since 2022. Following successful trials on selected flights, the airline has now extended complimentary Wi-Fi to Business class customers on all connected aircraft, and will be further extending it to Cathay Diamond members travelling in all cabins in November this year.

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “At Cathay Pacific, we are committed to investing in and further elevating the experience we provide for our customers. With complimentary Wi-Fi now available to customers travelling in First and Business class, and coming soon to our Cathay Diamond members, they can stay connected in the air whether travelling for business or leisure.’’

Customers using Cathay Pacific’s complimentary Wi-Fi service can enjoy the same experience as paid Wi-Fi, enabling them to check emails, browse the internet, stream audio, use social media and messaging apps, and access cloud storage services and other professional applications. Customers can connect with one device at a time, and can switch between devices at any time during their flight.

Customers in all cabins can enjoy complimentary access to all pages on cathaypacific.com and the Cathay Shop during their flight.

​Over 90% of Cathay Pacific’s fleet is already equipped with Wi-Fi, including all long-haul aircraft. The airline plans to extend connectivity across its entire fleet by mid-2025.

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Delta takes fast, free Wi-Fi international

Delta has started rolling out fast, free Wi-Fi presented by T-Mobile on select long-haul international routes – a major milestone in the airline’s journey to bring reliable, streaming quality connectivity to its entire global fleet for free. Most transatlantic flights are expected to be in service with free Wi-Fi by the end of the summer. 

Delta’s industry-leading Wi-Fi rollout is taking off internationally. Starting this summer, customers on select Viasat-equipped long-haul international flights can enjoy fast, free Wi-Fi presented by T-Mobile – bringing the airline one step closer to recognizing its goal of offering free Wi-Fi on its entire global fleet.  

Today, free, streaming-quality connectivity is available on nearly 700 aircraft – more than 90% of Delta’s domestic mainline fleet – and the airline expects the vast majority of customers will have access to the product by the end of the year.   

“As we continue to roll out fast, free Wi-Fi and the in-flight experiences it powers, we’re able to serve customers travelling both domestically and internationally in new, in-the-moment ways,” says Ranjan Goswami, S.V.P. – Customer Experience Design. “The scale at which we’re bringing free Wi-Fi to customers is unmatched in the airline industry, and it’s a testament to the incredible efforts of Delta teams across the business that have expertly navigated an extremely complex rollout.” 

What’s Next  

To ensure Delta is delivering the premium service customers expect, the airline is rolling out fast, free Wi-Fi on Viasat-equipped widebody aircraft on a route-by-route basis. Additional routes will be phased in as high-quality, reliable service becomes available. This strategy mirrors the approach taken with domestic installations in 2022.  

As free Wi-Fi rolls out internationally, the international Wi-Fi portal will not require a SkyMiles log-in initially. Later this year, all Viasat Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft will officially convert to the personalized Delta Sync Wi-Fi experience unlocked by customers’ SkyMiles memberships for exclusive onboard experiences and offers.  

Turkish Airlines to offer free, unlimited Wi-Fi over its fleet

Turkish Airlines, the airline flying to more countries than any other, is committed to enhancing its in-flight experience through the integration of latest developments and innovative technologies. In line with this strategy, the national flag carrier is working to provide all passengers with free, unlimited, uninterrupted and fast connectivity service within two years, starting from the end of 2025.

As part of this initiative, Turkish Airlines plans to retrofit its existing fleet with the latest in-flight connectivity (IFC) technologies and equip the new aircraft with the most efficient IFC technologies available. This will enable the carrier to extend the IFC service currently offered in the majority of its fleet to the entire Turkish Airlines’ fleet, providing all passengers with unlimited, uninterrupted, and faster IFC service free of charge.

With the integration of the new IFC technologies, Turkish Airlines aims to meet the expectations of its passengers regarding their digital consumption habits during travel. Therefore, Turkish Airlines is open to collaboration with all suppliers, and the carrier is actively negotiating with local and international suppliers that can offer the best IFC service solutions for its entire fleet. In addition, Turkish Airlines provides support to Turkish companies in the development of solutions for this connectivity service. In this regard, Turkish Airlines has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TCI Aircraft Interiors, a certified aviation products provider, and Turksat, a regional leader in satellite technologies. The signing of the MoU highlights Turkish Airlines’ is considering leveraging national capacity and the carrier helps support Turkish companies in establishing a presence in the IFC sector.

Following the necessary feasibility studies, all stakeholders will work to develop an understanding and endeavour to transform the MoU into a definitive agreement. Turkish Airlines remains committed to ensuring the highest level of passenger experience and advancing the Turkish aviation industry.

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Raytheon Technologies and Vista to bring LuxStream unlimited data plan to passengers.....

 

Raytheon Technologies, Collins Aerospace business announced its plan to bring unlimited data to the customers of Vista, a leading private aviation group. Using Collins' LuxStream, which runs exclusively on the SES's high-throughput satellite (HTS) network, Vista customers can now enjoy fast, reliable, unlimited internet access for the duration of their flights.

Since 2019, Vista has installed LuxStream on more than 75 aircraft in its fleet. Now, LuxStream will be installed on more than 100 aircraft. The HTS hardware and solution, exclusive to Collins, allows customers to conduct video conference calls, stream videos, and send emails while inflight.

"Our relationships with Vista and SES deliver exceptional in-flight connectivity experiences to customers," said Jen Schopfer, president of Connected Aviation Solutions at Collins Aerospace. "A flat hourly rate for global Wi-Fi is a market first, but just the latest in a series of customer-centric innovations that has come from our years of collaboration."

Nick van der Meer, Chief Operating Officer of Vista, said, "At Vista, we are always looking to enhance the customer experience. Whether flying for business or leisure, we know high-speed connectivity, without data limits, is a key value proposition for our customers. Owing to the speeds, many of our customers prefer LuxStream for their in-flight connectivity, and we can now give them unlimited data simply by connecting to the aircraft's Wi-Fi."

"LuxStream is the result of a tremendous collaboration between SES and Collins Aerospace. Our network of high-throughput satellites enables Vista's passengers to experience the same kind of high-speed connectivity services they enjoy on land. This announcement marks the next step in delivering premium services and meeting the needs of business aviation providers and passengers globally," said Steve Collar, CEO of SES.

Intelsat completes multi-orbit inflight Wi-Fi tests

Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and leading provider of inflight connectivity (IFC), today announced the successful completion of inflight testing of its new electronically steered array (ESA) antenna. This antenna enables global streaming-fast Wi-Fi service and is available to airlines around the world.

Intelsat’s ESA is the only commercially available antenna in the aviation industry that can operate between low Earth orbit satellites and geostationary satellites. Announced in June 2022, the new antenna has been accumulating flight hours with Ball, Stellar Blu Solutions, Intelsat and OneWeb engineers validating antenna and network performance.

In early 2023, Intelsat successfully demonstrated the new system to global airlines on the company’s Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet outfitted with the new antenna and inflight Wi-Fi system. With peak inflight download speeds exceeding 275Mbps, airline customers were able to participate in live virtual meetings, stream media and stay connected without interruptions.

By using the Intelsat and OneWeb satellite networks together, Intelsat can offer the benefits of LEO’s low latency along with the redundancy GEO provides to address network hotspots that LEO networks on their own cannot address. Whether aircraft are flying polar regions or over the most populated cities in the world, the ESA antenna will offer seamless coverage from takeoff to touchdown.

At just 90 pounds and with no moving parts, the new antenna stands just 3.5 inches tall on the top of the aircraft. The terminal’s low profile has the lowest drag of any product Intelsat has ever offered, reducing CO2 emissions for airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines to offer free, high-speed Starlink internet on its transpacific fleet

Hawaiian Airlines today became the first major airline to announce an agreement with Starlink to provide complimentary high-speed, low-latency broadband internet access to every guest onboard flights between the islands and the continental U.S, Asia and Oceania. Hawai‘i’s largest and longest-serving carrier will equip its Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft, as well as an incoming fleet of Boeing 787-9s, with Starlink’s industry-leading satellite internet connectivity service.

“When we launch with Starlink we will have the best connectivity experience available in the air,” said Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram. “We waited until technology caught up with our high standards for guest experience, but it will be worth the wait. Our guests can look forward to fast, seamless and free Wi-Fi to complement our award-winning onboard Hawaiian hospitality.”

-“Hawaiian Airlines is ensuring its passengers will experience high-speed internet the way we expect it in the 21st century, making hassles like downloading movies before takeoff a relic of the past,” said SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller. “With Starlink, the inflight experience is greatly simplified so that once passengers step onboard the plane the internet works seamlessly throughout their flight. Soon, passengers will enjoy all the benefits of having the world’s best inflight internet connectivity from the comfort of their seats.”

In Starlink‘s low-Earth orbit constellation of advanced satellites, the latest of which utilize a revolutionary laser mesh network, Hawaiian found an ideal solution to ensure reliable, high-speed, low-latency connectivity on transpacific flights. Guests will be able to stream content, play games live with friends on the ground, work and collaborate in real-time, plan their Hawai‘i vacation, or share their special island moments on social media. Connecting to the internet will be seamless when guests walk onboard, without registration pages or payment portals.

Hawaiian and Starlink are in the initial stages of implementation and expect to begin installing the product on select aircraft next year. Hawaiian is not currently planning to deploy the service on its Boeing 717 aircraft that operate short flights between the Hawaiian Islands.

Now in its 93rd year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaiʻi's biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers approximately 130 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands, daily nonstop flights between Hawaiʻi and 16 U.S. gateway cities – more than any other airline – as well as service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.

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Viasat in-flight Wi-Fi to be installed on KLM's European fleet

The Dutch airline KLM has contracted Viasat Inc to add in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity to 18 of the airlines' Boeing 737-800 fleet and 21 of its Embraer E195 aircraft it was confirmed this week.

 The 737-800's are expected to be outfitted with Viasat's latest in-flight connectivity (IFC) equipment by the end of 2021, and in-service by early 2022, and specifics around the Embraer E195 fleet will be announced at a later time. Both fleets will operate European flight routes only.

In-flight connectivity service tiers

KLM will initially offer three in-flight connectivity packages—Messaging, Surf, and Stream—on all Viasat-equipped aircraft. The Messaging option will give all passengers 30-minutes of free text messaging via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, among other messaging apps. The Surf and Stream options, which can be purchased in-flight, will give passengers the ability to do more on board, with options to surf the internet/email as well as enjoy full video and audio streaming.

American Airlines customers can access Apple Music for FREE in flight from Friday

Good news for passengers of one of the mega-carriers of North America as American Airlines opens up access to the whole of Apple Music from this Friday onwards.  This will give American's passengers the abilitiy to stream more than 50 million songs, playlists and music videos on any domestic flight equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi. American is the first commercial airline to provide exclusive access to Apple Music through complimentary inflight Wi-Fi access.

No matter how you like to spend your time in the air, there’s something for everyone on American flights. American continues to build a world-class customer experience and is investing in new entertainment and connectivity options throughout its fleet. 

In addition to launching Apple Music, American is also:

Installing high-speed Wi-Fi on domestic aircraft, with more than 570 aircraft complete today, and full completion mid-2019
Adding free live TV, currently on more than 400 domestic and 155 international aircraft, with additional rollouts continuing this year

Providing free access to wireless entertainment throughout American’s fleet, bringing great movies and television shows right to each customer’s device

Installing power at every seat on mainline aircraft and two-class regional jets

Wi-Fi access when flying on Viasat-equipped planes.

Norwegian becomes first low-cost airline to introduce free Wi-Fi on intercontinental flights

Norwegian  the popular low-cost airline is in the process of upgrading the passenger experience for its long-haul customers with the introduction of inflight Wi-Fi on its long-haul fleet of aircraft.

Voted Skytrax 2018 World’s Best Low-Cost Long-Haul Airline, Norwegian became the first carrier to offer free Wi-Fi on all European routes in 2011 and the first European airline to successfully offer live television in the skies in 2015. Since 2013, Norwegian has rapidly grown to become a leading long-haul airline offering more than 60 long-haul routes between Europe, the USA, South America and Asia serviced by modern, state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient aircraft.

Norwegian begins rollout of Wi-Fi connectivity on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX fleet

Free Wi-Fi for the full duration of long-haul flights and high-speed option fast enough to stream movies

The rollout of Wi-Fi to be completed on more than 50% of Dreamliner fleet by 2020

In-flight WiFi is the new revenue stream, even for low-cost airlines. The cost of inflight WiFi

It seems hardly a week goes by these days without some airline somewhere in the world saying that they are bringing in-flight wifi to their fleet.  The last few weeks no exception with one of the latest airlines to tell the world about its future sky-high connectivity plans being the ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines in the USA. 

Recently the airline announced it has signed a deal with the Thales Group to introduce Wi-Fi on all of its planes by summer 2019, claiming to be will also become the first ultra-low-cost carrier in the Americas to offer Wi-Fi. 

“We’re thrilled to enhance the in-flight Guest experience with the addition of new-generation Wi-Fi,” said Ted Christie, Spirit Airline’s President. “By next summer, every plane in our fleet should be fully equipped to keep our Guests connected in the skies. It’s just one of the many investments we’ve made and will continue to make for our Guests.”  Of course, Ted's pleased with Spirit charging an average price of $6.50 for high-speed web browsing and streaming depending on route and demand, it represents a big revenue stream for the airline. 

Many other airlines, including low-cost ones, have already or are planning to introduce wifi capabilities to their aircraft as they hunt for even more of our pounds, dollars or euros.  Here's a brief example of airlines offering wifi onboard and some of the sky-high fees for connecting to the net at 10,000 feet and above!