All Nippon Airways Plans Free Viasat Wi-Fi In All Classes… Eventually

We’ve seen a trend lately whereby more airlines have made free Wi-Fi available for more passengers. Japanese Star Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) has made nice progress with this over the past year or so, and has now announced plans to improve that even further. However, we’ll have to be (really, really) patient…

ANA currently offers free Wi-Fi to select passengers

ANA currently offers free inflight Wi-Fi to a good number of passengers (assuming particular planes are equipped with Wi-Fi, of course):

• On domestic flights, all passengers receive unlimited complimentary inflight Wi-Fi
• On international flights, first and business class passengers receive unlimited complimentary inflight Wi-Fi
• On international flights, premium economy and economy passengers receive complimentary inflight messaging

Eligible first and business class passengers should receive free Wi-Fi vouchers by email, or otherwise, will be offered them by the crew. Meanwhile for domestic flights and free messaging on international flights, travelers should be able to connect directly through the portal.

For situations where Wi-Fi isn’t included, the airline currently charges $6.95 for a 30-minute Wi-Fi pass, $16.95 for a three-hour Wi-Fi pass, or $21.95 for a full flight pass. In all cases, there are no data restrictions on usage.

ANA plans free Viasat Wi-Fi for all classes, eventually

ANA intends to introduce unlimited free Wi-Fi in all classes of service on international flights, at it upgrades its inflight connectivity to Viasat. However, this will be introduced very gradually — the plan is that by 2030, 80% of the international fleet will feature Viasat Wi-Fi, and therefore, free connectivity across cabins. Here’s the rollout plan:

• Boeing 767-300ERs will be the first to get Viasat Wi-Fi, as they currently don’t have inflight connectivity; during FY 2025, three of these planes will get the system, and by FY 2026, all six planes will get the service
• 18 Boeing 777-9s will come delivered with Viasat Wi-Fi, and those deliveries are expected to start in FY 2026 (I mean, maybe, who knows)
• 19 Boeing 787-9s will come delivered with Viasat Wi-Fi, as the airline still has a lot of Dreamliners on order; these planes will also get ANA’s new The Room FX product

If the airline plans to equip 80% of its international fleet with Viasat Wi-Fi by 2030, presumably that also means that some existing Boeing 787-8s, Boeing 787-9s, and Boeing 777-300ERs, will get the service. However, the timeline for that hasn’t been revealed, beyond the airline just stating that 80% of international planes will be upgraded with the system by 2030.

Bottom line

All Nippon Airways is planning on greatly improving its inflight connectivity situation. Currently the airline offers free Wi-Fi for all on domestic flights, free Wi-Fi in first and business class on international flights, and free messaging in premium economy and economy on international flights.

The airline has now announced plans to introduce free Viasat Wi-Fi on much of its long haul fleet, but the process will be very gradual. Specifically, it’ll be 2030 before 80% of the international fleet has this service. The plan is for the airline to start with adding this service to 767-300ERs, then to take delivery of new 777-9s and 787-9s with Viasat, and then to also add the service to many existing jets.

It’s nice to see the trend toward more airlines offering inflight connectivity at no cost, so this is great… I just wish it were happening a bit sooner.

What do you make of ANA’s inflight connectivity updates?