Virgin Australia have just announced that they’re switching on international Wi-Fi from today, which is great news for those of us who thirst for connectivity during overseas flights.
Now before you get too excited, Wi-Fi will only be available on Virgin’s five Boeing 777 aircrafts that go between Australia and Los Angeles. But hey, it’s a start.
In flight Wi-Fi is also available on ten Boeing 737s (which we live blogged last year) and Virgin has reported that 75 per cent of the fleet will be fitted out by the end of the year. It will also be installing the service in the A300-200 aircraft in early 2019.
In addition to the announcement, Virgin had some unsurprising statistics that came out of research by Pure Profile. Apparently 70 per cent of Australians feel frustrated due to the lack of internet on flights, with 72 per cent believing they would be more productive with access to Wi-Fi.
65 per cent of people also reported feeling overwhelmed catching up on emails, messages and notifications once they land.
This Wi-Fi news comes just one week after Qantas announced that it was rolling out Wi-Fi in all of its domestic A330 aircrafts.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/05/qantas-is-launching-free-wi-fi-on-domestic-a330-flights/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/qantas-plane-410×231.jpeg” title=”Qantas Is Launching Free Wi-Fi On Domestic A330 Flights” excerpt=”Qantas is currently installing Wi-Fi in its domestic Airbus A330s, and are looking to launch it in June. This will be the airline’s second big push into free Wi-Fi – with thirty Qantas 737s already offering the service.”]
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/04/live-blog-in-the-air-with-virgin-australias-in-flight-wi-fi/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/iStock-521691568-410×231.jpg” title=”In The Air With Virgin Australia’s In-Flight Wi-Fi” excerpt=”We took a quick flight today from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast (then back again) to test out Virgin Australia’s new in-flight Wi-Fi service provided by Gogo and Optus.
The service is part of a three month testing period that began last Thursday, available for free on one of the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Here’s how our trip went.”]