Which are the world’s most tech-friendly long-haul airlines? You may be surprised
Fast Wi-fi, live TV, comprehensive in-flight entertainment – a study rated the top 50 airlines in the 2018 SkyTrax World Airline Awards. Skytrax winner Singapore Airlines only made 14th place
Fly with the world's best airlines and you are more likely to get fast Wi-fi among the clouds, right? It turns out that some budget and low ranked long-haul airlines are among the most tech friendly of all, according to new research released by Southeast Asia travel booking platform, Traveloka.
The study focused on the facilities of the world’s top 50 airlines according to the 2018 SkyTrax World Airline Awards, that operate long-haul (six and more hours) flights.
First place in the ranking goes to Qatar Airways, chiefly for its Super Wi-fi service that launched earlier this year. It gives passengers speeds of up to 50Mbps. It costs US$10 for unlimited usage per flight, though all passengers get an hour for free.
Emirates grabbed second place in the ranking. It gives each passenger 20MB of free Wi-fi, which must be used within two hours. A further 150MB of data costs US$6.99 for most passengers or 500MB for US$10.99.
A surprise third place went to Delta Air Lines, which reached only 37th in the SkyTrax World Airline Awards 2018. Key factors include its free mobile messaging via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage, and all-day Wi-fi passes from US$16.
British Airways ranked fourth; the airline sells on-board Wi-fi on some of its routes from £4.99 (US$6.50), with one upgrade package offering Netflix streaming. It expects to have 90 per cent of its aircraft connected by 2019.