Lufthansa will expand its free messaging offering this summer to passengers on long-haul flights. The carrier will join Swiss and Austrian in the Lufthansa Group as offering the service.
“The introduction of free messaging on long-haul flights is another important step in continuously improving our customers’ overall travel experience,” says Dieter Vranckx, Chief Commercial Officer Lufthansa Group. ”We will continue to focus our efforts on services that are highly relevant to our customers.”
Heiko Reitz, Chief Customer Officer at Lufthansa Airlines, suggests that the “portfolio” of connectivity offerings, including free messaging and paid tiers for broader internet access “is very attractive to our customers.” But the airline must also contend with a shifting market landscape, particularly among full service airlines. Free messaging may be competitive for a year or two still, but carriers such as Delta Air Lines, Qatar Airways, Air Canada, and United Airlines are all moving towards a fully free model on board over the next few years.
Closer to home, airBaltic will also deploy Starlink for free connectivity beginning this year. That could be especially interesting as the airBaltic fleet operates under contract for some Lufthansa Group flights during the peak season.
Lufthansa previously made messaging free on its short-haul and medium-haul aircraft, at least on the aircraft fitted with connectivity systems. Notably the carrier did not install the GX Aviation kit on its newer A320neo and A321neo planes delivered over the past few years. Those will see the Viasat EAN system installed as part of a deal announced in January 2024.
The long-haul fleet operates on the Panasonic Avionics satellite network.
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