Over 20 airlines around the world are providing free inflight WiFi today and, according to the latest industry estimation from SITA OnAir, more than double that will do so by 2020.

“Take-up rate increases by up to ten times when airlines provide free inflight WiFi. Passengers want inflight connectivity but very few expect to pay for it,” said SITA OnAir’s chief strategy and marketing officer François Rodriguez. “We are becoming digital omnivores and depending on the context, we want to connect our phones, tablets and laptops all the time. SITA OnAir is helping airlines keep up with this growing trend by providing the industry with the business model that meets the airline’s commercial strategy and brand positioning.”

SITA’s passenger research shows nearly every passenger has the potential to be connected:

– 97 percent have a personal electronic device of some form;
– 81 percent carry a smartphone;
– 43 percent bring a tablet;
– 43 percent fly with a laptop; and
– 18 percent have a phone, a tablet and a laptop.

“People are addicted to being connected,” added Rodriguez. “A study in the US showed that 60 percent of people cannot go without WiFi for more than a day. 39 percent would sacrifice coffee and 43 percent would give up chocolate in return for WiFi access. Airlines need to think hard about inflight amenities. Newspapers and peanuts are traditionally used to keep passengers happy. But things have changed and the new generation of passengers clearly prefers to access social media instead.”

Primarily, people want to stay in touch during their entire journey. Looking at analysis of the traffic on SITA OnAir’s networks, once inflight, over half of the most used apps are for messaging, email or voice over IP. The most widespread ones are WhatsApp, iMessage, Snapshot, Gmail and FaceTime.

The next biggest group of apps is social media, which is also arguably about communication. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram come top. Search engines – Google and Yahoo – are also popular, as are YouTube, Spotify, Google Map and Apple Map.

“Inflight connectivity is now a must for the entire fleets,” said Rodriguez. “Airlines are also recognising that it can provide significant operational benefits. The resulting savings and improvement in the passenger experience will give every airline the opportunity to also embrace the airline digital transformation.”

Current operational uses of connectivity include crew tablets, which can provide real-time payment for duty free, live baggage tracking, value-added services at the destination, information about connecting flights and re-booking in the case of delays. The WiFi network can be used to connect the cabin crew and passengers for inflight services, such as food and drink requests. Pilots also use connectivity, for example connected Electronic Flight Bags, to receive up-to-date weather maps, so they can avoid turbulence, making flights more comfortable for passengers, as well as reducing fuel burn.

Different business models have been adopted to meet this demand:

Emirates provides free WiFi for all its passengers, in every class, as a standard cabin service.

Saudia provides complimentary internet to its premium passengers, through a dedicated phone and tablet app.

Singapore Airlines also provides free WiFi for its premium passengers, sponsored by an external company. In this case it is Citibank, which has covered the implementation costs of the promotion.

Philippine Airlines provides free WiFi to celebrate specific events throughout the year, such as the opening of a new route or calendar events like Christmas, with a dedicated promotion.

“This is the start of the connected aircraft,” Rodriguez added. “Airlines are using the aircraft connectivity for more applications to help the cabin and cockpit crew. The deployment of operational applications, including maintenance reporting and aircraft health monitoring is also already happening.” www.sitaonair.aero