Norwegian, Turkish Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are the only airlines in the world offering free WiFi on board, according to a study by the company Rumbo.
Europe is the region where the least airlines offer WiFi connection aboard the planes – it is the area where it is the most expensive to connect. In fact, companies like Lufthansa, Air France and KLM offer WiFi for EUR 10.95 per hour.
In the case of the German airliner, the connection is only available on long-distance routes aboard the A330, A340 and Boeing 747-400, while Air France offers the same on a number of selected routes, operated by a B777-300. Others, like TAP Portugal, allow you to connect wirelessly to their European and American routes at 4 mb speed at a cost of EUR 6, while the Swiss Air WiFi is included in the 'Business Class' booking fee.
North American airlines are the ones to offer WiFi the most commonly on their flights, at an average price of EUR 10.65 per hour. Specifically, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines allow data traffic for 24 hours for EUR 10.29, on transatlantic and long-distance routes, and flights within the United States and Alaska, in the case of Delta.
The average rate is smaller in the case of Gulf airlines up to EUR 10.25 for a 10 mb connection. However, airlines like Oman Air increase the price to EUR 11.02 on the routes to Europe and Indonesia, as opposed to Qatar Airlines, which offer WiFi at EUR 3.67, or Emirates, with a cost of EUR 2.29 for 5mb speed.
In Etihad, the fee for international flights remains within the average. The speed is not limited but the connection time is – one hour. The Gulf Air on the other hand charges the same price for a total of 24 hours.
Finally, Asian airlines show price disparity. Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and ANA, allow wireless data roaming at 10 mb for EUR 8.78, EUR 10.65 and EUR 8.52 respectively. Meanwhile, Japan Airlines include WiFi services to Tokyo, London and Paris at a price of EUR 16.13 per day.
Regarding aircraft model, the A319 family has the greatest number of aircrafts with WiFi connection, followed by A320. Behind them there are the 787 and 747-300 Boeing models.