Singapore Airlines offers inflight connectivity across most of its fleet, with complimentary access for premium cabin passengers, as well as PPS Club and KrisFlyer members. 

In this post, we’ll look at the various options available, and how much you’ll pay once your free allowance is exhausted.

Which aircraft offer inflight Wi-Fi?

Inflight Connectivity

Singapore Airlines has invested heavily on inflight connectivity over the past few years, and it’s starting to pay dividends. With the retirement of the A330-300s, B777-200s and B777-200ERs during the pandemic, Wi-Fi is available on virtually every aircraft in the fleet. 

The sole exception are the B737-800s, of which there are seven in active service at the time of writing: 

• 9V-MGC
• 9V-MGD
• 9V-MGE
• 9V-MGK
• 9V-MGL
• 9V-MGM
• 9V-MGN

These ply short-haul routes such as Phuket and Kuala Lumpur, where the loss of connectivity for 60-90 minutes won’t be that big a deal. 

Who enjoys free Wi-Fi?

Singapore Airlines Suites, First Class, and PPS Club members (in any cabin) receive complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi for the entire duration of their flight.

Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers get 3 hours and 2 hours of unlimited Wi-Fi respectively (plans cannot be paused), provided they are KrisFlyer members.

If you’re accessing Wi-Fi by virtue of your PPS or KrisFlyer membership, do remember to add your member number by the time of check-in (i.e. it needs to appear on your boarding pass). It can be tempting to leave your frequent flyer number off a redemption ticket, since you won’t earn miles on that flight anyway, but once onboard it’s too late to do anything!

How much does Wi-Fi cost?

Once your free allowance is exhausted, further Wi-Fi plans can be purchased for the following amounts:

1-hour and 3-hour plans cannot be paused.

Data via cellular service

In addition to Wi-Fi, you can also get data connectivity through your cell phone. Singapore Airlines aircraft equipped with inflight connectivity systems also offer cell service provided through either OnAir or AeroMobile. 

Singtel, StarHub and M1 offer all-you-can-eat data plans with both providers:

• Singtel: S$29 (valid for 24 hours from activation) 
• Starhub/M1: S$25 per day (valid until midnight, Singapore time)

Unlike Wi-Fi plans, these will cover multiple flights within the subscription window (because the allowance is tied to your mobile number, as opposed to your flight). 

In order to use this service, you need to turn on the data roaming feature on your phone.

While few travellers will opt for data connectivity via mobile plans (since it’s much more expensive than regular Wi-Fi), mobile network service is important if you’re making transactions that require SMS OTPs. Fortunately, it’s free to receive SMS messages inflight. 

Where is coverage available?

For Wi-Fi systems powered by OnAir, coverage is available around the world except for India. 

Panasonic systems enjoy global Wi-Fi coverage.

Do note that services will also be unavailable when the aircraft is flying over certain areas, like the polar regions. This affects the following flights:

What kind of speeds can you expect?

In a word: adequate.

I’ve been regularly testing the Wi-Fi speeds on my Singapore Airlines flights, and find that download speeds average out to ~5 Mbps for both the SITA OnAir and Panasonic systems. Upload speeds are usually much slower, at ~1-2 Mbps.

This is sufficient for sending emails, writing blog posts and communicating through WhatsApp and Telegram. It will not be sufficient for any sort of video streaming (not even YouTube in 240p), so download your entertainment before boarding the flight.

Do remember that the speed of your connection will depend on weather conditions and location. 

Conclusion

Singapore Airlines now offers Wi-Fi connectivity across the majority of its fleet, with free access to premium cabin passengers, PPS Club and KrisFlyer members. More importantly, the paid plans are much more reasonably priced now, with allowances based on time rather than volume.

The only aircraft that lack connectivity are the B737-800s, but these will disappear from the fleet in due course (and in any case, only ply ultra-short routes).