A year after it introduced free inflight WiFi, Air New Zealand has enabled more than one million broadband sessions on-air, allowing passengers to enjoy various online services through their smart devices.
The milestone has been achieved after the airline switched on the GX Aviation solution of Inmarsat, which powered the complimentary Wi-Fi connection onboard. GX Aviation is currently available on almost 25 aircraft within the Air New Zealand fleet, operating on Trans-Tasman, Pacific Island, US and London routes. This includes a combination of Boeing 777-200, 777-300 and 787-9 aircraft, in addition to Airbus A320 and A321 neos.
“Whenever and wherever passengers fly with them, they will be offered unrestricted internet access at zero cost. It is a prime example of how this leading airline always seeks to delight and surprise their passengers,” said Chris Rogerson, Inmarsat Aviation’s regional vice president for Asia Pacific.
““The fact that over one million sessions have been enjoyed by passengers since the free-of-charge model was introduced in December 2018 is testament to incredibly strong demand for high-speed, reliable and easy to access inflight broadband,” he added.
Meanwhile, last December was Air New Zealand’s biggest month ever for free inflight Wi-Fi sessions, with more than 122,000 customers connecting. This beats the airline’s previous record of 103,000 sessions in July 2019.
This surge in uptake for free inflight Wi-Fi from Air New Zealand passengers dovetails with recent findings from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), as part of the final instalment of their “Sky High Economics” report with Inmarsat Aviation.
The research found that there is an immediate $33 billion market share shift available for airlines developing the digital inflight experience. The report also revealed that Gen Z (born between 1997-2012) will become the largest group.
