Singapore Airlines extends unlimited free Wi-Fi to Economy passengers

Singapore Airlines has been increasingly generous with its complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi allowances over the last year or so, becoming the first airline in the Asia-Pacific region to offer unlimited free Wi-Fi in both First Class and Business Class on international flights, from earlier this year.

The airline has now announced that KrisFlyer members travelling in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class will also benefit from this complimentary ‘all-you-can-eat’ Wi-Fi package from 1st July 2023 on virtually every flight, with the exception of its Boeing 737-800 services.

“Customers across all cabin classes will be able to stay connected with loved ones, work online, or keep up to date with the latest news or their social media feeds, even from 36,000 feet in the sky.”

Singapore Airlines

This will make SIA’s offering “the most comprehensive free unlimited Wi-Fi access in the airline industry”, according to the carrier.

Current Wi-Fi allowances

Here’s a summary of the current complimentary Wi-Fi allowances when you fly with Singapore Airlines, which remain in force until 30th June 2023.

Singapore Airlines Complimentary Wi-Fi Allowance (till 30th June 2023)
	PPS Club Member*	KrisFlyer Member	Non-KrisFlyer Member
Suites First Class Business Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi
Premium Economy Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi	3-hour Surf Plan	None
Economy Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi	2-hour Surf Plan	None

* Includes supplementary cardholders
Note: No Wi-Fi is available on the Boeing 737-800 fleet

New Wi-Fi allowances from 1 July

If you’re stepping aboard in Economy or Premium Economy from 1st July 2023, there’s good news!

KrisFlyer members flying ‘down the back’ will also benefit from the unlimited free Wi-Fi package, as shown in the table below.

Singapore Airlines Complimentary Wi-Fi Allowance (from 1st July 2023)
	PPS Club Member*	KrisFlyer Member	Non-KrisFlyer Member
Suites First Class Business Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi
Premium Economy Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi		None
Economy Class	Unlimited free Wi-Fi		None

* Includes supplementary cardholders
Note: No Wi-Fi is available on the Boeing 737-800 fleet

Apart from on short flights, this is a significant improvement on the complimentary 3-hour or 2-hour Surf packages previously offered to these members.

Here’s what SIA’s Customer Experience man has to say about the latest offering.

“In today’s increasingly hyper-connected world, high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity is one of the most important requirements for our customers. Giving them access to free unlimited Wi-Fi is yet another milestone in SIA’s continuous effort to offer an exceptional end-to-end travel experience.

“With this enhanced offering, our customers will be empowered to stay connected, entertained, and productive, even at 36,000 feet in the sky.”

Yeoh Phee Teik, SVP Customer Experience, Singapore Airlines

KrisFlyer or PPS Club membership is a must

The downside of this newly offered generosity from SIA is that it only applies in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class if you are a KrisFlyer or PPS Club member and you have added your membership number to your booking in advance, or at check-in, or sign-up on board via the digital content portal using your mobile device.

If you are crediting miles and status credits from your trip to another partner frequent flyer programme, like many of our members do especially once they have already achieved their desired status in the KrisFlyer or PPS Club programme, you’ll be out of luck.

In this case, SIA’s regular time-based packages are available for purchase, as shown below.

Singapore Airlines Wi-Fi Plans (non-KrisFlyer / non-PPS in Y or PY)
Package	Cost	Description
1 hour Surf Plan	US$3.99	1 hour of continuous Wi-Fi access. Countdown begins after payment and will expire after the time limit is up, regardless of usage. Plan cannot be paused.
3 hour Surf Plan	US$8.99	3 hours of continuous Wi-Fi access. Countdown begins after payment and will expire after the time limit is up, regardless of usage. Plan cannot be paused.
Full Flight Surf Plan	US$15.99	Unlimited connection for the entire flight.

This concern doesn’t extend to those flying in Suites, First Class or Business Class, who can continue to enjoy free unlimited full-flight Wi-Fi, regardless of which frequent flyer programme is tagged to their booking.

Which aircraft have Wi-Fi?

All Singapore Airlines aircraft, with the exception of a small fleet of seven Boeing 737-800s, have high-speed Wi-Fi capability.

Singapore Airlines Fleet Wi-Fi Capability
Aircraft Type	Wi-Fi?	System
A350 Long Haul		Panasonic Ku-band
A350 Medium Haul		GX Ka-band (SITAOnAir)
A350 ULR		Panasonic Ku-band
A380		GX Ka-band (SITAOnAir)
737-800		n/a
737-8 MAX		Panasonic Ku-band
777-300ER		GX Ka-band (SITAOnAir) or Panasonic Ku-band
787-10		Panasonic Ku-band

Thankfully the 737-800s are currently only flying on two routes (Singapore – Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – Phuket), with a third joining the list from June (Singapore – Penang), so it’s fairly unlikely you’ll come across one of these substandard ex-SilkAir jets during your travels.

Aside from no Wi-Fi, the 737-800s also have a pretty lacklustre Business Class seat, not worth forking out extra for, as we found in late 2022.

On the KL and Penang flights, you can avoid the 737-800 by selecting an alternative flight with a different aircraft type, but unfortunately on the Phuket route you’re stuck with it on all services until at least late October 2023.

For a list of Singapore Airlines aircraft types operating by route and flight number over the coming months, check out our guide here, which also details the Business Class seat product you’ll get on board.

Which aircraft have the fastest Wi-Fi?

The Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band systems by SITAOnAir are the ones that will give you the fastest speeds on board – fitted to the airline’s:

• Airbus A350 Medium Haul
• Airbus A380

The system also made its way onto the airline’s older 777-300ERs (9V-SWA to 9V-SWT) that were retrofitted from the much slower SwiftBroadband (SBB) L-band system from late 2017.

As far as the rest of the 777-300ER fleet is concerned though, 9V-SWU onwards (including 9V-SNA to -SNC) came factory-fitted with the Panasonic system, starting in mid-2013.

The Panasonic Ku-band system fitted to the rest of the fleet uses a lower frequency range (12 to 18 GHz) than Ka-band (26.5 to 40 GHz), which means a reduced data transfer rate, but still provides good speeds.

We have typically recorded download speeds of 7-9 Mbps using the GX system, while 4-5 Mbps is more typical with the Panasonic system, though both are a marked improvement on the old SBB L-band connection for those who remember the slow, unreliable experience on pre-retrofit 777-300ERs and older A380s (0.8 Mbps is the best we ever got on those!).

Various other factors also impact your on-board Wi-Fi connection speed, including geographical location, altitude, atmospheric conditions including the weather, and of course passenger usage.

All things being equal though – you should notice faster speeds on a GX-equipped aircraft, compared to Panasonic.

How’s the coverage?

The Wi-Fi service relies on both a satellite connection and national authorisations when overflying certain countries.

India is the main stumbling block on SIA’s network. The Panasonic system does now have authorisation for use in this airspace, though the SITAOnAir (GX Aviation) version does not, at the time of writing.

Here’s how the coverage looks depending on the Wi-Fi system installed, and therefore the aircraft type.

SITA OnAir (GX Aviation)
Global Coverage

Panasonic Avionics
Global Coverage

As you can see there will be a Wi-Fi outage period while overflying India on the way to Europe if you’re on an Airbus A380 or older Boeing 777-300ER (even though these have the fastest systems), but there is no outage on the Airbus A350 Long Haul or newer Boeing 777-300ERs on this route.

Additionally, there are two areas on SIA’s network that suffer from poor satellite coverage and therefore suffer from little to no connectivity:

• Polar regions
• South Indian Ocean

According to Singapore Airlines, this means you may encounter the following approximate Wi-Fi outage periods on selected flights:

• SQ478 SIN-JNB: Around 4h 45m into the flight, for around 1h 30m
• SQ479 JNB-SIN: Around 2h 45m into the flight, for around 1h 15m
• SQ22/24 SIN-EWR/JFK: Around 9h 30m into the flight, for around 2h 30m
• SQ21/23 EWR/JFK-SIN: Around 4h 30m into the flight, for around 2h 30m

Actual outage times and periods will depend on the exact routing your flight takes on the day.

Singapore Airlines is extending its unlimited complimentary full-flight Wi-Fi package to Economy and Premium Economy customers from 1st July 2023, making it the most comprehensive free connection package available across the airline industry.

On-board connectivity has certainly come on leaps and bounds recently – just four years ago the airline was charging Business Class passengers US$15 to top up their 30MB free allowance by a measly 60MB, but is now offering unlimited full-flight Wi-Fi practically fleet-wide to all passengers.

Those flying in Economy and Premium Economy will still need to be KrisFlyer or PPS Club members to benefit, or sign-up to KrisFlyer on board, but if you’re flying in Business Class, First Class or Suites you can still credit your trip to a different frequent flyer programme and also take advantage of the complimentary connection.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)