Virgin Aus to land inflight Wi-Fi in 2018

Virgin Australia has listened to our prayers (and whining about having to go 3-4 hours without checking social media) and will be rolling out Wi-Fi come 2018.

According to Australian Business Traveller, Virgin will be offering Wi-Fi to travellers flying between Australia and New Zealand from early 2018.

It will also begin serving Wi-Fi to flyers travelling between Australia and Los Angeles from December.

As per AusBT, a Virgin Australia spokesperson told the publication the rollout of “inflight WiFi on flights to and from New Zealand and other destinations on our short-haul international network, from early in 2018.”

In August, Virgin Australia said it was hoping to become the only Australian airline to offer Wi-Fi internationally.

Virgin Australia Group CEO John Borghetti said at the time, “We want to provide the world’s most rewarding travel experience and we know that enabling our guests to remain connected while flying is central to that.

“Therefore we’re pleased to announce our rollout plans for inflight Wi-Fi today, which will see more than 90 per cent of Virgin Australia’s fleet fitted with this technology.

“Virgin Australiaalia will offer a base level of free wi-fi to all of our guests on domestic flights and become the only Australian airline to offer wi-fi on international flights.

“We’ve chosen to partner with leading inflight connectivity provider Gogo, who deliver inflight Wi-Fi to airlines around the world including Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways.

Recently, Cathay Pacific also announced in-flight Wi-Fi, meaning it would be the first major airline in Asia to have satellite-based broadband inflight.

According to the airline, there will be high-speed Wi-Fi on its Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 from mid 2018 – in response to their customers growing demand for increased inflight connectivity.

Cathay Pacific Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Paul Loo said that Wi-Fi on these aircrafts is just the beginning.

“We envisage that by 2020, all of our wide-body aircraft will have inflight connectivity capabilities.

“This will open up a wealth of opportunities for us to provide more innovative experiences for our customers,” he said.

“We have been listening to our customers who have told us that staying connected inflight is important to them. Our passengers will soon be able to not only roam around the cabin when the fasten seat belt sign comes off – the whole internet awaits at 35,000 feet.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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