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Norwegian has announced that (some) customers flying between Europe, USA, South America and Asia will be able to stay connected in the skies with the rollout of free and premium high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity on the carrier’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX aircraft.
The first connected Norwegian Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (reg: G-CKWP, featuring American author Mark Twain on the tailfin), was delivered on 18 December 2018. The new aircraft has now entered service and marks the first time Norwegian passengers can experience free inflight Wi-Fi for the full duration of long-haul flights.
The planned fleetwide rollout isn’t exactly rapid though, as even by 2020 only “more than 50 per cent” of Norwegian’s 787-9 Dreamliner fleet is expected to offer in-flight connectivity. The rollout of Wi-Fi on the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is likely to take even longer, but begins this month.
Choice of two packages – Basic and Premium inflight Wi-Fi
Norwegian economy and Premium customers on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX will have the choice of two inflight Wi-Fi packages:
Basic option
The Basic option is free and will allow customers to browse the web, stay-up-to-date on social media, send and receive emails and instant messages with friends, family and colleagues by using their personal mobile phones, tablets and laptops on board for the full length of the flight.
Premium option
Fast enough to stream music, movies and television shows on Netflix, YouTube and Hulu among others, Norwegian will offer passengers a Premium high-speed Wi-Fi option.
Premium high-speed Wi-Fi will be available at an introductory price of $14.95 USD / €12.95 EUR for a three-hour package.
Obviously the free option sounds great and I don’t think the premium option is too outrageously priced either – as long as the speed is genuinely good.
Norwegian’s Vice President Business Development Boris Bubresko had this to say:
“We’re continuously improving the inflight customer experience and we’re delighted to be the first airline offering free Wi-Fi for the full duration of long-haul flights.
“Millions of Norwegian customers have already enjoyed free Wi-Fi over the skies of Europe and now long-haul passengers can continue to rely on free and high-speed internet connectivity that will enhance and personalise their journeys.
“From being the first European airline to launch free Wi-Fi on all short-haul flights followed by free live television, Norwegian’s rollout of high-quality inflight broadband services will offer business and leisure travellers even greater value at affordable fares.”
Conclusion
This is a welcome announcement, but it looks like it’s going to be a while before you can ‘expect’ to find Wifi onboard Norwegian’s long haul flights, rather than it being an occasional bonus.
Wonder how much this is a precursor to removing IFE screens and leaving people to use their own devices?
I’m pretty sure IFE will be onboard the 787s for a quite a long time to come (certainly years), but it’s a good question longer term for the industry in general. Of course, there isn’t any IFE on Norwegian’s 737 MAXs anyway, so a good could streaming deal could make a huge amount of sense there, assuming sufficient bandwidth.
I’ve stayed in hotels that don’t have enough bandwidth for their guests. I can only imagine a planeload all trying to watch videos at once via satellite…
Oh? Unless you’re referring to long haul Norwegian only, they have been having free WiFi onboard short haul flights. The speed is however awful though. I’d rather have them charged a minimal amount in return of decent internet speed.