Australians willing to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi access

Australian airline passengers are so keen to access Wi-Fi in flight that 70 per cent would be willing to pay for unlimited internet use.

A global survey by satellite firm Inmarsat and market research company GfK found Australians are the second most willing to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi in the Asia-Pacific region, behind only New Zealanders at 77 per cent.

Overall, 90 per cent of travellers in the region said on-board connectivity would influence their choice of airline.

Qantas has yet to announce plans to install Wi-Fi on international aircraft. Photo: Cathryn Tremain

"If you have two airlines serving the same market with similar pricing and everything else is even, then being able to have connectivity will drive passengers to the one with connectivity," Inmarsat Aviation Asia Pacific regional director Bill Peltola said.

Qantas in February announced it would be rolling out free high-speed Wi-Fi access on its domestic fleet of Boeing 737s and A330s from next year following a trial on a 737 later this year. Its service, which will use the NBN's satellite, will be delivered by US internet provider ViaSat, a rival to Inmarsat.

However, Qantas has yet to announce plans to install Wi-Fi on international aircraft even though partners Emirates and American Airlines already provide the service as do rivals like Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Virgin Australia has not unveiled any plans for domestic or international Wi-Fi, but it has been exploring options.

Passengers are looking for the same connectivity in the air as they have on land.

Australian carriers have lagged behind international counterparts in offering Wi-Fi in part over concerns about connection speeds and investing a lot of capital in a technology that could become obsolete given there are several competing solutions in the market.

"[Oceania] is a region where the airlines for a variety of reasons have not made the decisions yet, in most cases, to fit their fleets of aircraft," Mr Peltola said. "But they are at a point now where most believe they definitely need to do it."

On-the-gound behaviour

Singapore Airlines will begin introducing Inmarsat's higher-speed Wi-Fi on aircraft at the end of this year.

Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa are among the first customers for Inmarsat's next generation KA-band Global Xpress (GX) technology. The equipment will be installed on those carriers from the end of this year, providing much faster Wi-Fi in flight than the current systems.

Mr Peltola said airlines were likely to use the GX system to introduce tiered access to Wi-Fi, some of which might be complimentary to passengers.

"Somebody who is going on a holiday and just wants to do social media on their smartphone will be able to do it at a very low price point or possibly even free if that is the choice of the airline," he said. "Somebody at the other end of the spectrum who wants to do video streaming or very high volume data can pay for that."

The Inmarsat/GfK survey showed more than half of Asia-Pacific passengers would prefer in-flight broadband as an on-board service compared with less than 20 per cent who preferred traditional in-flight entertainment.

"I think what we are seeing is obviously the behaviour on the ground, in terms of what people do with their smartphones and tablets and laptops and other devices, has really been highly dynamic," Mr Peltola said. "The changes we are seeing on the ground are really manifesting themselves in terms of what people are looking for to be carried through on connectivity on the airplane."