82 airlines from the globe now offer in-flight Wi-Fi for passengers at 32,000 feet but of the airlines from smaller countries listed, in the Routehappy 2018 Wi-Fi Report, Nigeria was not listed.
In the rich content platform for flight shopping, which provides the most comprehensive worldwide overview of in-flight Wi-Fi only two countries from Africa, Air Côte d’Ivoire from Ivory Coast, and Air Mauritius from Mauritius were on the list.
In 2017, major airlines from every corner of the globe began their long-awaited Wi-Fi rollouts, while early adopters began system upgrades. From British Airways in the U.K. to Qantas in Australia, Wi-Fi at 32,000 feet is now more ubiquitous than ever before, the report said.
Highlights of the Routehappy Wi-Fi Report 2018 include:
12 additional airlines now offer in-flight Wi-Fi, representing a 17% increase from the 2017 report
Nearly half (43%) of all available seat miles (ASM) worldwide now offer at least a chance of Wi-Fi; up 10% from the 2017 report
U.S. airlines offer at least a chance of Wi-Fi on 86% of their ASMs, with 85% of ASMs fully rolled out Non-U.S. airlines offer at least a chance of Wi-Fi on 32% of their ASMs, up by 14% from the 2017 report
The top three airlines that offer the most ASMs with Wi-Fi are Delta, American, and Emirates, respectively three carriers now offer Wi-Fi on 100% of their flights: Icelandair, Southwest, and Virgin Atlantic
13 airlines globally offer Wi-Fi on 100% of long-haul* flights: Air Europa, Delta, Emirates, Etihad, Eurowings, EVA Air, Iberia, Kuwait, Lufthansa, SAS, Scoot, United, and Virgin Atlantic Best Wi-Fi is now available on 16% of ASMs worldwide, representing a staggering 129% increase from the 2017 report Basic Wi-Fi continues to lose ground, now representing just 27% of connected ASMs worldwide, a 16% decrease from the 2017 report
Better Wi-Fi remains the most common type of Wi-Fi, at 57% of ASMs worldwide. While Better Wi-Fi represents a majority of ASMs, it is now losing ground to Best Wi-Fi as airlines upgrade existing systems or start fresh with Best Wi-Fi
According to Routehappy, While passengers have come to expect Wi-Fi on large global airlines, many smaller airlines have now begun offering Wi-Fias well. Air Astana from Kazakhstan, Air Côte d’Ivoire from Ivory Coast, and Air Mauritius from Mauritius are jusa few of the numerous smaller airlines that began offering Wi-Fi in 2017.
The report also stated that these airlines view Wi-Fi as a necessary amenity to better compete with larger airlines adding that the installation and operational cost of Wi-Fi systems has dropped to levels where just about any airline in the world can begin offering the service, something thought to be impossible for smaller airlines just a few years ago.
“At the same time, many smaller airlines are beginning to renew their fleets, opting to take new aircraft with Wi-Fi directly from the factory. In years past, only the slowest and most expensive Wi-Fi systems were available during aircraft assembly. Today, airlines can simply tick a box and have their new Airbus and Boeing aircraft delivered with state of the art Wi-Fi systems.”
The report revealed that the installation and operational cost of Wi-Fi systems has dropped to levels where just about any airline in the world can begin offering the service, something thought to be impossible for smaller airlines just a few years ago.
“At the same time, many smaller airlines are beginning to renew their fleets, opting to take new aircraft with Wi-Fi directly from the factory. In years past, only the slowest and most expensive Wi-Fi systems were available during aircraft assembly”, said Routehappy.
Today, airlines can simply tick a box and have their new Airbus and Boeing aircraft delivered with state of the artWi-Fi systems
2017 saw a major expansion of the fastest available Wi-Fi systems. In the United States, Delta Air Lines has upgraded the Wi-Fi system on a majority of its domestic fleet for the second time.
Originally flying with a Basic system, later upgraded to a Better system, Delta now operates more than 350 aircraft with Best Wi-Fi from Gogo installed. These aircraft now offer access to streaming services such as Netflix anywhere they fly, even over oceans, and for a cost lower than previous generations of Wi-Fi systems.
Studies further showed American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are following suit, also upgrading aircraft for the second time while in Europe, The Lufthansa Group launched Inmarsat’s GX for Aviation services in 2017, providing Best Wi-Fi in Europe for the first time. The service is currently installed on more than 150 aircraft, including all Austrian narrow-body aircraft, and is now rolling out to all Lufthansa and Eurowings mainline narrow body aircraft. International Airline Group began its rollout of Best Wi-Fi from Gogo on its long haul aircraft, beginning with British Airways and Iberia.
And also in Oceania, a region that has been slower than others to adopt in-flight Wi-Fi, a race to begin offering Wi-Fi kicked off in late 2017. Qantas signed on with ViaSat, Virgin Australia with Gogo, and Air New Zealand with Inmarsat.
Isaiah Erhiawarien, Nigeria
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