CATHAY PACIFIC: Free WiFi in Business and First Class

If you are travelling on a Cathay Pacific aircraft that is WiFi enabled in Business or First class, thenyou will have free acess.

First Class passengers have had complimentary access since 2022, but now, service has been extended to Business Class passengers and Cathay Diamond frequent flyer members.

“With complimentary Wi-Fi now available to customers travelling in First and Business class, and coming soon to our Cathay Diamond members, they can stay connected in the air whether travelling for business or leisure.’’

Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer

Access for Diamond members will be whatever class they are seated in, but the free WiFi will not be extended to other OneWorld Emerald members, like those who belong to Qantas or British Airways loyalty schemes.

The complimentary experience will be the same as if you paid a fee for it. You will be able to check emails, access the internet, use social media, and messaging apps, stream audio and access remote things like cloud storage. But there are limitations. Note, that no mention is made of streaming video. Users have recorded speeds of five to ten megabits per second. That is not really enough to complete bandwidth-intensive tasks like video streaming, game playing or accessing cloud services.

Also, you can only use one device at a time, although you can switch between devices.

Cathay Pacific plans to have WiFi across its entire fleet by mid-2025. Currently, it has close to 90% of its aircraft equipped.

Cathay internet charges

If you don’t qualify for free internet services, then you have a range of paid options on Cathay:

• US$10 = one hour
• US$13 = up to six hours
• US$20 > six hours/entire flight

You also can’t change from one scheme to the other, but you can end one scheme and reconnect with another. This makes the six-hour or whole flight options the best value for money.

You can access the network by choosing the Cathay Pacific network or going to www.wifi.cathaypacific.com. You will need to create an account and enter credit card details if this is your first use.

2PAXfly Takeout

WiFi access is becoming essential on aircraft, given our need for 24 hour connectedness. But, with these speeds, WiFi in the air has a lot of restrictions. With other airlines offering free WiFi across classes, like Qantas, soon airline WiFi will go the way of hotel WiFi.

Remember when you had to pay for WiFi in hotels? Now almost no one pays. Either WiFi is included in the room rate, or you just need to join the hotel loyalty program to access it.

Aircraft WiFi will go the same way, soon. I predict all airline WiFi will be free before the decide is out.