In-flight entertainment is about to take off in a new way as Qantas announces it is introducing free access to Netflix and Spotify.
Passengers will soon be able to watch TV shows and listen to millions of songs following a deal between the airline, the subscription sites and the Australian TV app Foxtel.
And there’s a bonus. All three services will suspend payments and offer free trials. Spotify and Netflix will offer 30-days and Foxtel three.
The service begins next month, initially on Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 domestic flights. The rest of the fleet will follow suit in the summer and it may eventually be installed on international flights.
Olivia Worth, group executive of marketing, said:
We know that email, online shopping and general web browsing will be popular uses when we switch on wi-fi.
But what a lot of people relish about flying is being able to catch up on their favourite TV shows or watch movies they didn’t get to see at the cinema.
Qantas claims the service will be ten times faster than existing in-flight wi-fi. It follows the November announcement by British Airways that it would follow the likes of Lufthansa and Norwegian Airlines in introducing in-flight wi-fi and Netflix on its short-haul flights.
And it comes on the back of a decision by some airlines to scrap the traditional back-seat screens following a growing trend for passengers to download films to their phones, tablets and laptops.
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