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) is the latest airline to introduce free inflight connectivity. While this was announced a few months back, this improvement has just gone live in business class.
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ANA adds free Wi-Fi in business class as of August 2024
As of August 20, 2024, ANA has begun offering free Wi-Fi for business class passengers on international flights. This is something that has been available to first class passengers for quite some time, so it’s nice to see this extended to business class as well.
Since ANA’s Wi-Fi service on most jets no longer has data limits, this new perk offers unlimited free Wi-Fi, without data caps. Historically, Wi-Fi on a long haul flight has cost a bit over $20. Passengers on eligible flights will be handed Wi-Fi vouchers by the crew, which can be used to access the service for free.
Note that there are two restrictions when it comes to this opportunity:
- Free Wi-Fi isn’t available on ANA’s fleet of six Boeing 767-300ERs; this is because inflight connectivity isn’t available on these planes as of recently
- Free Wi-Fi isn’t initially available on ANA’s fleet of three Boeing 777-300ERs not featuring new cabins; that’s because these planes will be getting a new inflight connectivity supplier, and it will be launched “as soon as it is ready” (which hopefully means the remaining three planes will be reconfigured with new cabins in the near future)
ANA adds free texting in premium economy & economy as of March 2025
There’s good news for non-first and business class passengers as well, though some patience will be required. As of March 2025, ANA will begin offering free inflight texting to premium economy and economy passengers on international flights.
It’s not entirely clear yet which apps and services will be available with this free texting plan, though the press release states that “texting refers to sending and receiving of text messages via social media, email, etc.” Being able to send emails with complimentary inflight texting actually sounds better than I would have expected.
While not as good as unlimited free Wi-Fi, this is still a nice way to stay in touch with loved ones and friends while inflight.
Bottom line
All Nippon Airways is making inflight connectivity free for more passengers. Effective immediately, ANA is offering free Wi-Fi to business class passengers on international flights. Then as of March 2025, we’ll see premium economy and economy passengers on international flights get free messaging.
It’s nice to see the trend toward more airlines offering inflight connectivity at no cost, so this is an improvement to the passenger experience. Hopefully oneworld rival Japan Airlines matches this move on ANA’s part.
What do you make of ANA’s inflight connectivity changes?
How did all poor people in the past survive flying long-haul without internet on board? This used to be the last resort where one could have a break from all the buzz. I like to use this time reading that thing that is called "a book".
Otherwise, I like ANA and cannot wait to finally try "The Room" soon.
II ryokou o.
This is a purely pedantic comment, but Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity are not the same things. Many airlines offer "free Wi-Fi" that only gives access to in-flight entertainment, but not Internet connectivity. It's an important distinction.
Oops. This was supposed to be a separate comment, not a reply.
They really need new seats and a new IFE system as the their staggered seats and previous generation system are just not cutting it anymore. Btw, when can we see an A380 trip report?! I thought your goal was to review every A380 in service?! lol
I don’t think Ben intends to fly the ANA A380 in the near future, because it simply isn’t as dazzling as the 777-300ER’s products, not even in First. Certainly not when JAL’s A350-1000 is so spectacularly outstanding in F, and reviewing that plane in J to JFK is much more of a priority for him than flying NRT–HNL on a niche A380 — cool though it sounds on paper.
As a daily reader for the past decade or so, I recall his goal of reviewing every A380 product out there. And he has, with the sole exception of ANA which has only been in service for about 5 years now. While there's nothing groundbreaking to review, I figured it's something he can add to his list so to speak.
Aircalin is also another airline that intrigues him, so I'm sure he can find a way to do both at once.