A V I A T ION T E CH NOL O G Y
a single webpage to load on a full A380 fight. Download speeds on Emirates’ Boeing 777s were more usable, often around 1.5Mbps. The superjumbo’s size saw it suffer, simply through so many passengers battling for bandwidth. Changes followed, and now only Skywards Platinum members get free wif from every seat. Others need the right ‘status plus cabin’ combination for browsing or messaging, or must pay to connect. Fortunately, today’s speeds are far more usable than the initial free-for-all. British Airways similarly grants free messaging to
Executive Club members and gratis connectivity for guests fying in frst class. Virgin Atlantic is less consistent, with pricing varying between aircraft. Services range from 20 minutes of free browsing on some planes to a £29.99 charge for a fight pass. Singapore Airlines is following Emirates’ early attempt. Wif is now free for KrisFlyer members in any cabin – covering the bulk of the plane. A business class, frst class or Suites boarding pass also does the trick. Cathay Pacifc and Japan Airlines also provide free wif at the pointy end. Elsewhere, approaches can be less predictable. Air
New Zealand and Qantas offer complimentary browsing on their respective domestic fights. But on long haul, Air NZ charges for the service while Qantas fies across oceans without connectivity – for now. But you can expect long-haul wif to come with the airline’s Project Sunrise fights.
Chinese carriers have been slow to adopt infight
browsing, particularly as smartphones still needed to be completely powered down in fight until 2018. But now, Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines and other Mainland Chinese carriers offer it on selected fights. Low-cost carriers meanwhile prove a rarity when
hunting for wif. You won’t fnd it on easyJet, IndiGo, Jetstar or Ryanair. Scoot is one of the exceptions, but you’ll pay to connect – and in economy, you’ll pay extra to have the infight power switched on! Over at Qatar Airways, Starlink will roll out across the
airline’s entire modern feet within two years. Board a Starlink-equipped plane and you’ll enjoy free browsing for the whole fight. In the meantime, Privilege Club members can connect for an hour at no charge. Starlink will also stretch its wings on Air France, Delta
and United “soon”, while Turkish Airlines plans to remove all connectivity fees by the end of 2025.
The future of inflight wifi The driving force for change with infight wif centres on two aspects: availability and speed. Starlink has both of those points bolted down. This will inevitably lead to reduced costs for travellers as many airlines trend towards complimentary connectivity, just as hotels did. For carriers that keep fees in place, we can expect
legacy systems to continue transitioning from data- based plans to time-based options. Given how much of our lives now takes place in the cloud, charging per MB just feel archaic. Some carriers are also beginning to accept payment
using miles. American Airlines is a recent adopter of that strategy, joining others seeking to soften the blow of being charged for a connection. My prediction? Infight wif is still evolving, but infight cellular roaming will one
DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 Multiple devices
If you’re paying for a connection, be alert that some plans will only work via the device you buy them on. If you’re toting the typical tablet/laptop and smartphone combination, don’t expect that your plan will follow your browsing habits unless that’s advertised. It may not be essential, but it’s quite pleasant changing from ‘work mode’ on a laptop to ‘social media mode’ on a smartphone, especially if your pass follows along.
BUSINESS TRAVELLER 59 Protect your data
Using public wifi brings about security concerns. Inflight networks are usually unencrypted, making
data easy for others to intercept. Using a VPN can help mitigate these risks by encrypting your traffic between your device and a server on the ground. That’s the case even if the hotspot itself isn’t secured. Frankly, I never connect to inflight wifi without using a VPN – and the same is true of wifi in the lounge.
Tips to manage inflight wifi T R O U B LE S H O OT I N G
Black spots
Even with new tech, the long journey taken by your data can cause dropouts, slow speeds and high
latency. Certain countries also ban internet within their airspace or impose restrictions on data handling. International airlines often deactivate the service
over India for this reason. Remember too that aircraft usually run just one external internet connection. Your data shares that invisible line with everybody else, creating bottlenecks to slower speeds.
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