United Airlines to offer Wi-Fi on all Australian flights by July

United Airlines is on track to provide wireless inflight Internet access on all Australian routes by July this year, and remains the only airline to offer the service to Aussie travellers when crossing the Pacific.

Included on the roster are flights from Sydney to both Los Angeles and San Francisco and the short hops from Cairns to Guam, with Melbourne already enjoying connectivity on United’s LA runs aboard its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Sydneysiders currently have about a 60% chance of scoring Wi-Fi when bound for the States, with 44 of 74 Boeing 777s already fitted out with the technology and the rest due for completion by July.

Cairns residents will initially need a little more patience, with just one Boeing 737-700 in United’s fleet configured with satellite-fed internet, although all 37 of the type are also on track to meet the airline’s own June deadline.

“United plans to install Wi-Fi on about one aircraft a day,” a spokesperson for the airline told Australian Business Traveller when speaking about United’s 700-strong mainline fleet.

UA charges for transpacific Internet based on the time spent online rather than data consumed, with a flight pass currently US$16.99 for as much as you can download from gate to gate.

For passengers with onward connections from Los Angeles and San Francisco to destinations such as Chicago, London Heathrow and Vancouver, the airline also expects to offer Wi-Fi on every mainline flight by the end the year.

And if you’re jetting from Los Angeles or San Francisco to New York JFK on the United’s dedicated Boeing 757 p.s. Premium Service aircraft, you’ll already find wireless Internet access available on every flight.

Also read: Which airlines offer inflight Internet access from Australia?

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.