If the thought of boarding a long-haul flight without Wi-fi fills you with dread, then it’s worth picking your airline carefully.

A new report reveals that Virgin Atlantic, Icelandair, Delta and Emirates and Southwest Airlines are the leaders when it comes to mid-air internet connectivity. 

But British Airways, despite being a very early adopter of the technology, has fallen behind when it comes to offering in-flight connections across its fleet. 

Overall, in-flight Wi-Fi has improved dramatically in the last year and worldwide, and there’s now a 43 per cent chance your next flight will have Wi-Fi. 

Shown here is table of the top airlines to fly with to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on the percentage of available seat miles (ASM), which is a measure of an airline flight’s passenger carrying capacity

That’s an increase from 39 per cent last year, according to analysis by New York-based firm, RouteHappy.

The chance of boarding a flight with Wi-Fi rises dramatically when it comes to the United States, where there is an 80 per cent chance your next flight will offer at least some level of connectivity.

This compares to Wi-Fi on only two thirds of all US domestic flights back in 2015.

Outside of the US, the likelihood that you’ll be skimming through your Facebook News Feed mid-air drops to a fifth, with an 80 per cent chance your flight won’t have any connectivity. 

WHO SHOULD YOU FLY WITH TO GET THE BEST WI-FI ACCESS?

Globally, 82 airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi, which is 12 more than last year.

The service is now common enough that there is a 43 per cent chance your plane will have internet access, according to a survey by Routehappy. 

In terms of the most Wi-Fi access, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Emirates are the current leaders

Delta and Emirates offer Wi-Fi on all of their long-haul flights.

While Routehappy does not reveal which airlines has the best quality Wi-Fi, it does reveal that the basic category – which involves no streaming media capability – is  losing favor. 

Basic Wi-Fi services have fallen by 16 percent from last year to slightly more than one-quarter of airline seat capacity.

The ‘better’ category  which allows for web browsing and some media streaming, represents 57 percent of the  systems now in use.

 Below are the break down of the results:

 Airlines worldwide that are most likely to have in-flight Wi-fi:

 1. Icelandair (100% of all flights have Wi-Fi)

2. Southwest (100% of all flights have Wi-Fi)

3. Virgin Atlantic (100% of all flights have Wi-Fi)

4. Emirates

5. Delta

6. Virgin America

7. Kuwait

8. Etihad

9. United

10. American 

Longhaul airlines that are most likely to have in-flight Wi-fi:

 1. Emirates

2. United

3. Lufthansa

4. American

5. Delta

6. Etihad

7. Qatar Airways

8. Turkish

9. Singapore

10. China Eastern

The top airlines to fly with globally to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on total available seat miles (ASM)

The top airlines to fly with globally to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on total available seat miles (ASM)

According to the latest report, some 13 airlines globally now offer Wi-Fi on all of long-haul routes: Air Europa, Delta, Emirates, Etihad, Eurowings, EVA Air, Iberia, Kuwait, Lufthansa, SAS, Scoot, United, and Virgin Atlantic.

But in-flight Wi-Fi is no guarantee you’ll be able to stream any of your favourite shows.

Only 16 per cent of all Air Seat Miles (ASMs) boast Wi-Fi boasts speeds close to a home broadband connection – fast enough to stream from video on-demand services like Prime Video and YouTube.

Even on those flights where the connection is fast enough, most airlines restrict this type of usage since it slows the speeds available to other passengers.

Overall, in-flight Wi-Fi has improved dramatically in the last year and worldwide, and there's now a 43 per cent chance your next flight will have Wi-Fi

Overall, in-flight Wi-Fi has improved dramatically in the last year and worldwide, and there’s now a 43 per cent chance your next flight will have Wi-Fi

While Routehappy does not reveal which airlines has the best quality Wi-Fi, it does reveal that the basic category - which involves no streaming media capability - is losing favor

While Routehappy does not reveal which airlines has the best quality Wi-Fi, it does reveal that the basic category – which involves no streaming media capability – is losing favor

Shown here is table of the top long-haul airlines to fly with to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on the percentage of available seat miles (ASM), which is a measure of an airline flight's passenger carrying capacity

Shown here is table of the top long-haul airlines to fly with to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on the percentage of available seat miles (ASM), which is a measure of an airline flight’s passenger carrying capacity

Shown here is table of the top long-haul airlines to fly with to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on the total available seat miles (ASM)

Shown here is table of the top long-haul airlines to fly with to have the best chance of having Wifi on your flight. This graph shows the results based on the total available seat miles (ASM)

According to RouteHappy, more than half of all in-flight Wi-Fi is capable of web browsing, but have limited media streaming capabilities.

Almost a third of in-flight Wi-Fi is only fast enough to provide access to the web.

Robert Albert, CEO of Routehappy, said: ‘2017 was another progressive year for in-flight Wi-Fi, with a large increase in the amount of airlines that provide Wi-Fi access, on top of the growing availability of nearly half the available seat miles worldwide.

‘The 129 per cent growth of Best Wi-Fi is extraordinary, it shows the commitment airlines are making to best in class systems and we expect to see this number increase even more in 2018.’

The increased adoption is likely due to the drop in price around installing the in-flight technology.

Installation and operational costs have now dropped to levels where almost any airline can afford to offer some level of connectivity, RouteHappy claims.

This is something that would have been thought impossible for smaller airlines just a few years ago. 

Outside of the US, the likelihood that you'll be skimming through your Facebook News Feed mid-air drops to a fifth, with an 80 per cent chance your flight won't have any connectivity

Outside of the US, the likelihood that you’ll be skimming through your Facebook News Feed mid-air drops to a fifth, with an 80 per cent chance your flight won’t have any connectivity

The chance of boarding a flight with Wi-Fi rises dramatically when it comes to the United States, where there is an 80 per cent chance your next flight will offer at least some level of connectivity

The chance of boarding a flight with Wi-Fi rises dramatically when it comes to the United States, where there is an 80 per cent chance your next flight will offer at least some level of connectivity





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