[Tom Otley]

One Mile At a Time is reporting that it has seen an internal Emirates email detailing a change of pricing for onboard wifi

It’s interesting because when you talk to airlines they all say they make no money from wifi provision (whatever the charging structure – and they all differ).

Instead they talk about differentiation, and also the possibility of selling things to passengers through the wifi portal. Of course any laptop and iPad ban for devices in the cabin would severely limit any chance of that.

The internal memo says

From 14 June, we’re introducing two new Wi-Fi price plans on board. We’re also providing free Wi-Fi for the whole flight to Emirates Skywards members travelling in our premium cabins.

Here’s an overview of the changes in each class:

Economy Class

Customers can still enjoy 10MB for free for up to two hours from initial sign-up
A choice of two new price plans if they want to use more megabytes of data

First and Business Class

Emirates Skywards members:

Free Wi-Fi for the whole flight: This includes upgraded customers, as well as Staff travellers who are also members of our loyalty programme. Customers in premium cabins who sign up for Emirates Skywards membership can only start taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi privileges from their next flight onwards.

Non-Skywards members:

Can still enjoy 10MB for free for up to two hours from initial sign-up
A choice of two new price plans if thy want to use more megabytes of data

What are the new price plans?

Free — 10MB
9.99USD — up to 150MB
15.99USD — up to 500MB

Why are we making these changes?

At Emirates, the overall customer experience is always at the core of everything we do. We constantly review our products and services across all cabins to make sure we continue to surprise and delight our customers and add value to their experience. At the same time, we streamline our services based on customer demand and feedback.

The Wi-Fi service has proven to be massively popular, with around 750,000 customers connecting every month.

Now customers can choose a plan to suit their needs, rather than paying a flat fee for a set amount of megabytes. And all customers can still connect on board for free for up to two hours.

Our free Wi-Fi for Emirates Skywards members traveling in First Class and Business Class adds another great benefit to being part of our frequent flyer programme.

Why isn’t our Wi-Fi totally free?

Our Wi-Fi is amazing value, and customers can still connect for free for up to two hours.

Getting Wi-Fi in the air is expensive, and within the limits of today’s technology, connecting isn’t easy. We’ve invested a huge amount in equipping our aircraft. So we’ll start charging customers a relatively small amount towards the service.

The charges don’t actually cover our investment, but they will go some way towards the cost of providing the service and help us to roll it out across our fleet for more customers to enjoy.

[stevescoots]

excellent news!

[Flightlevel]

Not long I expect when most new airliners delivered are wifi fitted and like IFE in the past it may eventually be free or included in the ticket price, or at least only at ancillary cost.
Well done to EK to offer some free use. Some UK railways also do that ‘though newer trains are supposedly to have entirely free wifi?

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