Wireless Internet or Wi-Fi or Wifi depending on how you want to write it, is now available on flights on an increasing number of airlines. While the service can be patchy at times, it is great to have it on board.

Being able to check your social media, write e-mails and work is handy, especially on a long journey. Let’s have a look and see which airlines in the oneworld alliance offer the service.

American Airlines

American Airlines offers Wi-Fi on both domestic and international services. Some are through Gogo and some are through Panasonic, which makes it interesting when you connect and get a separate provider on each flight. I recall $19 for 4 hours being one package, with another being higher for full flight access and a lower one for 2 hours.

I recently experienced it on a flight from Dublin to Chicago on the Boeing 787 and also on a flight from Chicago to Seattle on the Boeing 737. Service is very good!

British Airways

Internet service is currently being rolled out at British Airways and they expect to have 90% of their fleet enabled by 2019. One hour free is being provided during the introduction period.

Pricing starts at £4.99 and there are two packages, a browse package and a stream package. No other pricing is available online, you find out when you connect on board.

Cathay Pacific

Online service is available at Cathay Pacific on their Airbus A350 fleet, with it being rolled out to the Boeing 777 fleet at the moment. Gogo provide the Boeing 777 service and Panasonic the A350 service.

Prices are $19.95 for flights over 6 hours, $12.95 for flights 6 hours or less and $9.95 for an hour. It seems reasonable and it remains to be seen if the rest of the fleet will also get the service.

Finnair

Announced only in the last few days is the fact that Finnair have started offering Wi-Fi on their European fleet. It is expected to be fleet wide by the middle of 2019. Pricing is not yet available.


Long-haul Finnair flights already offer the service, with the first hour free for business class and Finnair Plus Gold level frequent flyers. It is then €3 for three hours or €20 for a whole flight. Finnair Plus Platinum frequent flyers have free access for the entire flight, which means it pays to be loyal to Finnair!

Iberia

High speed WiFi is available on Iberia’s new Airbus A330 aircraft, while standard WiFi is available on the Airbus A340. Pricing differs between the two aircraft types.

Airbus A330 costs €8.99 for 1 hour/40 MB of data, €19.99 for 3 hours/100 MB, and €29.99 for full flight/200 MB. Standard WiFi on the Airbus A340 costs $4.95 for 4 MB, $9.95 for 10 MB, $19.95 for 25 MB and $34.95 for 45 MB. Yes, one is priced in dollars and one in Euro. Confusing!

Japan Airlines

Free Wi-Fi is offered on Japan Airlines domestic flights which is excellent. The relatively short duration of those flights means it is probably cost effective not to charge for it.

Some international flights feature the service also and it costs $10.15 per hour, $14.40 for 3 hours or $18.80 for 24 hours. Not all aircraft offer it at this time, but many do.

LATAM

South American carrier LATAM (formed from the merger of Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM) is scheduled to have wireless Internet services operating in 2018.

Malaysia Airlines

The good people at Malaysia Airlines also offer Wi-Fi, though only on the new Airbus A350 aircraft. The introductory price is $1 for an 8 MB plan.

Those wanting more can pay $5 for 20 MB or $20 for 150 MB. It is not a lot of data when you think about it, but it is good to see it now offered on this carrier.

Qantas

Australia’s Qantas offer free inflight Wi-Fi on their domestic services. Most of the domestic fleet is expected to feature the service by the end of 2018.


Uniquely, it is free as mentioned, and unlimited, which is brilliant. I tried it in 2017 and was able to stream with ease. It is expected that international flights will offer the service from 2021.

Qatar Airways

Internet service is available on Qatar Airways Airbus A380, Airbus A350, Boeing 787, and selected Airbus A320, Airbus A321, and Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

8 MB is usually free, sponsored by Ooredoo however in reality this lasts only for a few minutes before being consumed. Pricing is similar to other carriers.

No Internet at Royal Jordanian

Unfortunately, Royal Jordanian do not offer inflight Wi-Fi at this time.

No Internet at S7 Airlines

Russia’s S7 Airlines also does not offer wireless connectivity on board.

SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines offer wireless internet on board their new Airbus A330s and the new Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo fleet. OnAir are the provider of this service.

During the introductory period, pricing is as follows. $4 for 20 minutes, $8 for 1 hour, $15 for 3 hours and $25 for the full flight. Pretty much on par with the other airlines!

Overall Thoughts

Being connected during flight is becoming more and more prevalent. While the services are not as fast as you will find on the ground, some of them are surprisingly good. Patience is key at times!

I enjoy using Wi-Fi on board, especially on long flights. It helps to pass the time being able to chat to people or share my flight shenanigans on social media. As long as people can’t make voice calls, I’m all for it.

What do you think of on board Internet services? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Albion via Wikimedia Commons.
Finnair by Anna Zvereva from Tallinn Estonia via Wikimedia Commons.
Qantas by EurovisionNim via Wikimedia Commons.