Inflight internet service on Air Canada is getting an upgrade. The carrier will shift from free texting on its flights to fast, free, streaming-quality Wi-Fi from May 2025. The service will roll out first on flights within North American and Sun destinations. Long-haul international routes will see the plan shift in 2026.
Bell remains the sponsor of the service, a role it has held since May 2023. As with the prior iteration, access to the complimentary Wi-Fi on board is tied to a loyalty account.
Air Canada will also bring inflight Wi-Fi to the Air Canada Express Q400 fleet. Among other things, these aircraft operate on the carrier’s business-traveler focused routes from Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport to Montreal and Ottawa. This will be the first time a Q400 fleet has been equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi service.
Read more: WestJet taps Starlink for fast, free inflight internet
Air Canada first tipped the transition to a more robust free connectivity offering in June 2023, shortly after launching the free messaging program. At that time Norman Haughton, Director of In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity Product and Analytics at the carrier said, “For the regionals, we’re going to be full free from day one.” Day one was a reference to the upgraded kit the airline is installing on those aircraft, transitioning from the legacy Gogo air-to-ground solution to Intelsat‘s newest satellite-offering that can connect to both GEO and LEO satellites.
In October 2023 Air Canada also rolled out the first A321 with Intelsat’s 2Ku service on board, again an upgrade from the legacy ATG offering. That aircraft served as a flying testbed, with EVP Mark Nasr noting the plane will be used for “trialing more new in-flight experiences with this A321 and expanding those learnings to additional aircraft in our fleet.”
Air Canada says more than 85% of the short-/mid-haul fleet will have the system active in May. The bulk of the remaining planes are expected to complete by the end of the year. This includes certification and installation on the Q400s, which is targeted to begin in 2025 and the first phase of those deployments will occur throughout the year. Presumably this covers the portion of the fleet operating at Billy Bishop, with other Q400s (e.g. those based in Vancouver) to follow.
With this deployment, plus WestJet’s plans to deploy Starlink on its jet fleet and Porter Air‘s Viasat-backed service on its E195-E2 fleet the Canadian market will soon see the vast majority of flights offering free inflight internet of some sort. Roughly 50% of ASMs operated by Canadian airlines will have a complimentary service when Air Canada’s single-aisle fleet goes live. That number jumps over 80% when the Air Canada and WestJet wide body aircraft transition, expected in 2026.
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