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WI-FI IN THE SKY: Air New Zealand launches in-flight Wi-Fi

Air New Zealand passengers flying on board the carrier's 777-300 and 777-200 jets may now have access to in-flight Wi-Fi, with four of these planes the first to be fitted out with sky-high internet.

Air New Zealand passengers flying on board the carrier’s 777-300 and 777-200 jets may now have access to in-flight Wi-Fi, with four of these planes the first to be fitted out with sky-high internet.

The Wi-Fi connected planes are currently flying between Auckland and Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. As well as Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

If your flight will have Wi-Fi on board, you’ll get a notification from the Air New Zealand app just before you board.

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You can choose to browse select sites for free ((i.e. Air New Zealand’s website and the Air New Zealand App) or to buy a full flight pass of unlimited Wi-Fi for one leg of your journey for NZ$40.

The airline explains on its website that passengers can expect “data-light activities” like browsing, emailing, messaging, and posting on Facebook to be well supported.

Activities that are heavy on data, however, like large file downloads will not be available.

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The bandwidth is shared across all passengers on the plane and Air New Zealand reserves the right to block content that could be offensive to your seatmate.

Wi-Fi is expected to be installed on the remainder of the New Zealand carrier’s 15 Boeing 777 aircraft and 11 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet during the rest of this year and throughout 2019.

The carrier is eager to hear how passengers found their in-flight Wi-Fi experience, in a bid to keep providing a better service.

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If you’ve used their in-flight connectivity they’re asking you to complete a quick survey which gives you the chance to win 100 Airpoints Dollars.

Oh, and cool fact. Did you know when using the airline’s new Wi-Fi the signal goes from your device to an antenna on top of the plane before shooting into space where it’s picked up by a satellite in orbit and sent down to earth to collect your data.

All this takes place in around two seconds

With the aircraft travelling at more than 800 kilometres per hour, by the time your data gets back to you, you’ve travelled the length of about five rugby fields!

READ: KIWI PRIDE: Air New Zealand is Australia’s most reputable company (AGAIN)
READ: Air New Zealand designs flat beds for infants so parents can chill during take off

Have you used Air New Zealand’s new in-flight Wi-Fi yet? Let us know below.