This Aussie airline just became the first to introduce international WiFi

This Aussie airline just became the first to introduce international WiFi
By Alexandra Coulton


Virgin Australia’s international in-flight wifi will officially be live today, making it the only Australian airline to offer the service.

Starting today, passengers travelling between Australia and Los Angelas can remain connected to their family, friends, fave TV shows and the news of the day for their entire flight.

Personally, we will be using the new service to keep up with all the latest memes while binge watching Netflix.

felicity-i-love-the-internet

According to the airline, this new service will bring relief to millions of Australians suffering from a ‘condition’ referred to as ‘net-lag’.

Apparently, net-lag is the inability to stay connected on flights, leading to feelings of stress and FOMO (fear of missing out).

Sounds fake you say? Well, there’s actually some science behind it.

New research commissioned by Virgin Australia, revealed 70 per cent of Aussies confessed to having experienced ‘net-lag’ during a flight and feeling frustrated because they couldn’t access the internet.

Additionally, over 65 per cent admitted to feeling overwhelmed catching up on emails, messages and other unread notifications once they landed.

Aussies indicated the ways they would use inflight WiFi if it were available on international flights including:

  • Social Media to check Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (23.8 per cent)
  • Stream movies or TV shows (21.3 per cent)
  • Personal email and web browsing (16.5 per cent)
  • Read the news (15.6 per cent)
  • Instant message friends and family (14.6 per cent)
  • Business/work email and web browsing (8.3 per cent)

The research also found 71.3 per cent of people felt their time on a long-haul flight would be more productive with WiFi, and more than three-quarters would perceive their flight to be more enjoyable if they could stay connected.

“We know that the inability to keep up-to-date with the online world and stay in touch with friends is a real fear that’s only grown since the introduction of smartphones,” Dr Andrew Campbell, Cyberpsychologist at The University of Sydney said.

“Like it or not, staying connected has become an essential part of life for most of us and certainly seems to be where we’re headed as a society.”

“Most of us use our phones on a daily – if not hourly basis – meaning it can be incredibly disruptive to have extended periods of time when you can’t connect with friends, family, colleagues, or what’s going on in the world,” Group Executive, Virgin Australia Airlines, Rob Sharp said.

“We’re proud to be the leader in providing Australians with greater inflight connectivity on international flights.”

Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines has also become the only Trans-Pacific alliance to consistently offer inflight WiFi across all Alliance aircraft, allowing guests to stay connected when travelling with either airline.

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