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Qantas Launching Free Wi-Fi on Some International Flights Soon

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Daniel Ross
Edited by: Juan Ruiz
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Passengers flying Australian flag carrier Qantas on some of its international routes will soon get to enjoy free Wi-Fi.

By the end of March, ViaSat Wi-Fi is expected to be in operation onboard some of Qantas’ fleet of Airbus A330 jets.

Here’s more on Qantas’ latest tech upgrade for its passengers.

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Flights To Asia Will Get Wi-Fi First

The majority of Qantas’ Airbus 330 jets operate routes from across the country to Southeast Asia. As such, passengers flying select routes to the region will be the first to experience free Wi-Fi, as reported by Executive Traveller.

While Qantas flies its -200 variant of the Airbus A330 on its Los Angeles (LAX) to Brisbane (BNE) route, flights to the U.S. will not feature the new free Wi-Fi. This would suggest that the new free Wi-Fi capability will only be installed on the -300 variant of the aircraft.

Eventually, Qantas plans to install the free ViaSat Wi-Fi on its Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 aircraft to complete the set.

It’s only then that passengers traveling between the U.S. and Australia with Qantas will be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi, as these are the jets that operate most flights between the 2 countries.

Qantas Business Class Stella Nick
Upgraded Points’ Stella and partner Nick enjoying business class on a Qantas Airbus A380 from Brisbane to Los Angeles (LAX). Image Credit: Stella Shon.

At the start of 2026, Qantas plans to have rolled out even faster connectivity through an upgrade to ViaSat’s satellites. Once this has been set up, ViaSat expects passengers to be able to enjoy speeds over 100Mbps.

From mid-2026, Qantas hopes to receive its first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft that will operate nonstop service from Melbourne (MEL) and Sydney (SYD) to New York (JFK) and London (LHR). These aircraft will be delivered with ViaSat’s most up-to-date technology already installed.

This is great news for Qantas passengers — especially those traveling for business between Australia and Asia.

As yet, there appears to be no requirement to be a member of Qantas’ Frequent Flyer program to get access to the free Wi-Fi. This is unlike some airlines, which require passengers to be a member of their loyalty program to be eligible for free Wi-Fi.

Bottom Line:

Free Wi-Fi is coming to Qantas flights soon — and that’s great. However, airplane Wi-Fi is nothing new. In fact, several airlines already offer some form of free Internet to their passengers.

Final Thoughts

Qantas’ decision to embrace free Wi-Fi is commendable. However, due to its slow rollout, it could be a while before your next flight with Qantas to Australia includes free Wi-Fi.

The rollout will start at the end of March and will be complete upon receipt of its Airbus A350-1000 aircraft in mid-2026.

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About Daniel Ross

Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.

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