Two airlines are bringing faster WiFi to their international flights
Emirates and Cathay Pacific are moving to faster, satellite-based services.
Two airlines have made moves to upgrade their WiFi offerings today. Cathay Pacific Group will provide GoGo's 2Ku satellite-based broadband technology starting in 2018 and Emirates has partnered with Thales to bring 50Mpbs connectivity to its Boeing 777X fleet in 2020.
A number of airlines have caught on to the fact that upping their WiFi game can attract customers. Last year, American Airlines exchanged some of its aircraft's GoGo internet service for ViaSat's satellite technology and earlier this year, JetBlue began offering free WiFi to all of its passengers. In September, Delta added WhatsApp to its selection of messaging services, which also includes Facebook Messenger and iMessage, that can be used for free on all WiFi-enabled flights.
Cathay Pacific will install GoGo's 2Ku service on its Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft and while Emirates' upgraded service will take a bit longer to get up and running, it's certainly better than the AR gimmick it announced in June.
