Air New Zealand is working with the world’s biggest satellite internet service provider, Starlink, to introduce free internet on domestic aircraft.
Starlink will be installed on an ATR (regional aircraft) and a domestic jet in late 2024.
After a successful trial of four to six months, Air New Zealand will roll it out on other aircraft in its domestic fleet in 2025, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Starlink offers high-speed, low-latency (lag), in-flight internet.
“With latency as low as 30 milliseconds [ms], all passengers will be able to use internet like never before,” said Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar.
The airline is not disclosing details of the price of its plans or what it cost to modify planes, but a Starlink business plan costs about $5000 a month. It is not known how many plans it will need for its domestic fleet.
The airline has 32 Airbus A320 aircraft that can fly domestic routes and 29 turboprop ATRs that fly primarily on regional routes.
