Air Canada plans to offer free Wi-Fi to Aeroplan members aboard its flights starting next year, building on a partnership with telecom giant Bell that already gives passengers free text messaging capabilities.
The airline said Thursday that the Bell-sponsored internet service will be available on all Wi-Fi equipped aircraft for North American and Central American flights beginning in May 2025, followed by long-haul international routes in 2026.
It said passengers can expect "streaming-quality" service on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and most Air Canada Express aircraft.
Mark Nasr, Air Canada's executive vice-president of marketing and digital, and president of Aeroplan, said free Wi-Fi is something that customers have been increasingly asking for.
"We think it's becoming a core expectation of customers whether they're travelling for business or for leisure," Nasr said in an interview.
"We said, 'Let's get the installations done first. Let's make sure that when we announce this, it's available at a critical mass.'"
Air Canada currently offers a range of Wi-Fi packages on select flights for a fee, starting at $6.50 for a prepaid one-hour pass. A $21 one-way pass allows passengers to browse the internet for the duration of their flight, while a monthly plan costs $65.95.
It says all three options offer savings over prices paid when purchasing in-flight. Non-Aeroplan members will still be able to pay for Wi-Fi packages, Nasr said.
Earlier this year, WestJet and Telus Corp. announced their own partnership to provide free internet service aboard flights for members of that airline’s loyalty program starting this month.
The companies said in July that Wi-Fi connectivity for WestJet Rewards members would be delivered through Starlink, which provides internet service through its low-earth orbit satellites. WestJet plans to equip all of its modern narrow-body fleet for the free Wi-Fi service by the end of 2025, with wide-body aircraft to follow by the end of 2026.
Porter Airlines also already offers free Wi-Fi for passengers on its Embraer E195-E2 fleet, a service it announced in 2022.
More than two-thirds of Air Canada's Boeing 737 MAX fleet is currently equipped to offer Wi-Fi, but the airline said it plans to upgrade the remainder by next year. It will also install Wi-Fi capability on the "majority" of its Air Canada Express fleet servicing regional Canadian and U.S. routes.
The Air Canada announcement builds on an existing free Wi-Fi texting service for Aeroplan members first announced in May 2023, which is also sponsored by Bell.
That service gives members of the loyalty program travelling worldwide on Wi-Fi-equipped airplanes the ability to send and receive messages on apps such as Apple’s iMessage, Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Rakuten’s Viber and Google Messages.
Access is available on any Wi-Fi capable device, no matter the passenger’s mobile carrier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE, TSX:AC)
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
