Roll-out of Qantas inflight Wi-Fi underway
Following months of performance testing, Wi-Fi will now operate in beta mode on a single Boeing 737 aircraft so customers can test it out for themselves on selected flights while Qantas continues to fine-tune the system.
© Leung Cho Pan via 123RF
Testing is expected to be complete by June 2017, and from there installation of the technology is expected to begin on Qantas’ domestic fleet of Airbus 330s and Boeing 737s. The roll-out across 80 aircraft will be completed at the end of 2018.
The Qantas system offers speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional onboard Wi-Fi and gives customers the ability to stream movies, TV shows, music and news programs - including through content partnerships with Foxtel, Stan, Netflix and Spotify. In the interests of other passengers, however, voice calls will not be allowed.
Qantas group CEO Alan Joyce says: “Inflight Wi-Fi has been on our wish list for quite a while, but the sheer size of Australia meant it was hard to offer a service that was fast and reliable. The nbn has made it possible and we’re really pleased to be able to tap into this service.”
“On flights between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, where we have a lot of business travellers, we expect the system to get a real work out with email and web browsing.”
