Malaysia Airlines is the latest carrier to make inflight Wi-Fi free to all passengers. As of 1 November 2023 the carrier will not charge any travelers on board 20 of its wide-body aircraft to access the internet.
We are delighted to extend our complimentary Wi-Fi offering to passengers across all travel class; making us one of the first airlines to enable such convenience.
– Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi, Chief Executive Officer of Airlines from Malaysia Aviation Group
The shift to free for all on board follows the airline’s complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi offering introduced on 1 July 2023 for Business Suite and Business Class passengers, as well as Enrich Platinum members. That offering was capped at 100 MB.
While Malaysia Airlines says the new offering is without data caps, the carrier also will still not support streaming video services on board. This differs from a similar recent change by Vistara to remove data caps from its connectivity plans and support streaming. Unlike Malaysia Airlines, however, Vistara still charges for access. That likely shifts demand sufficiently to make streaming support more viable for the Indian carrier.
Malaysia Airlines’ move follows several other airlines similarly pushing free internet on board, beyond basic messaging services. JetBlue has long supported it, of course. Delta Air Lines announced its plans to make Wi-Fi free on board earlier this year and quickly equipped more than 600 planes to support that effort. The remaining fleet, including its regional jets, is mostly expected to be equipped by the end of 2024. Similarly, Air Canada continues to grow its free offering. The carrier made messaging free earlier this year and now is supporting full free access on at least one aircraft, with plans to grow that more broadly across its fleet as well.
Other airlines like Swiss have added free access to messaging services recently, though not a broader free connection on board. Singapore Airlines offers free access – albeit capped at two hours in economy class – for its passengers.
Malaysia Airlines’ support for the increased capacity comes as its inflight connectivity supplier Panasonic Avionics recently committed to a boost in Ku-band GEO capacity across the globe. That boost was confirmed to be in support of specific demand from its airline customers, such as Vistara and Malaysia Airlines, rather than speculative expansion.
The complimentary inflight internet service is available on Malaysia’s A350-900s (6 planes) and is rolling out across the A330-200 (5 active) and A330-300 (9 active) as well. The carrier further expand the free wi-fi offering on its single-aisle fleet as the 737 MAX joins its operations. Those planes will be fitted with hardware from Viasat to provide the connectivity on board.
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