Another major airline group to make WiFi free for all travelers
Veronika Bondarenko
Wed, January 14, 2026 at 7:29 AM EST
3 min read
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As plane passengers increasingly expect to stay connected on their flights, multiple airlines have aimed to stand out from competitors by making WiFi access free not just for customers in premium classes but everyone inside the plane.
At the end of 2024, Air Canada became the first major airline to announce that it would roll out free WiFi out on all of its flights (the process of making this possible on some of the airline's smaller planes is still ongoing) while American Airlines recently was the last to join competitors Delta and United by promising to make free WiFi available on all flights by the end of 2026.
Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines all to get free WiFi by 2029
Air France-KLM also made this commitment in September 2025 while Lufthansa is now rushing to keep up with the announcement that it expects to retrofit its full fleet of over 850 aircraft with full WiFi capabilities by 2029.
The major German airline group is behind not just the namesake Lufthansa but also airlines including SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti and Edelweiss. Newer planes will be the first to be equipped with access.
Related: This is why Lufthansa is being called the 'problem child' of airlines
The rollout is part of the Lufthansa Group's switch to Starlink; the first planes will be equipped with the new product in 2026 while the retrofit of the entire fleet is expected to be complete by 2029.
"An essential milestone for the premium travel experience of our customers": Lufthanasa Group
"In our anniversary year, in which we are celebrating Lufthansa's 100th birthday, we have decided to introduce a new high-speed internet solution from Starlink for all our airlines," Lufthansa Group Chief Commercial Officer Dieter Vranckx said in a statement. "The Lufthansa Group is taking the next step and setting an essential milestone for the premium travel experience of our customers. Connectivity on board plays an important role today, and with Starlink, we are not only investing in the best product on the market, but also in the satisfaction of our passengers."
Travel news:
For the time being, airlines have gotten around the problem of having its speeds and connection capabilities stretched by heavy use by requiring customers to add their loyalty member number to their ticket during check-in or otherwise log into their membership account prior to the flight — loyalty memberships are free for all to create but many travelers forget to add it to their ticket and thus are unable to access free WiFi while the plane is in the air.
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A connection for which one can just "log in" without the extra step of connecting through the membership is often offered exclusively in premium fare classes. As planes are equipped with increasingly stronger connection speeds, this is likely to change in the coming years.
As Lufthansa is the largest airline group in Europe with an expansive fleet of both newer and older planes, their commitment is a major shift that having easy WiFi access aboard planes will soon become a normal part of the flying experience.
Related: A new country is offering a free airline stopover program
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jan 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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