Rex activates WiFi on 737s

Australia’s Rex Airlines is now online in the sky. The carrier officially activated the 2Ku satellite internet offering from Intelsat on its fleet of 737-800s. And, to help acquaint passengers with the service, WiFi is free on board for the rest of November.

In this day and age, business and leisure travelers expect to remain connected, whether they are on the ground or in the air. Our selection of Intelsat and their market-leading inflight connectivity product delivers on that need.

– Mayooran Thanabalasingham, Rex’s General Manager, Information Technology and Communications

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Activating the service on board should be relatively trivial for the carrier. The 737-800s Rex operates all previously flew for Virgin Australia. That carrier installed the hardware on board.

Turning it back on required negotiating the contract with Intelsat, but the heavy lifting for installation should have already been completed. Which raises the question of why only four of the six are active so far. But the other should be online soon enough.

Given Rex’s efforts to compete with Qantas and Virgin Australia on heavily contested routes in southeastern Australia, offering connectivity makes a ton of sense. Though it is worth noting that Virgin Australia has not reactivated the WiFi systems installed on its planes. The service was disabled through the carrier’s bankruptcy proceedings. The carrier has indicated it is reconsidering how to offer the service going forward.

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When the free period ends expect to see multiple price points on board for WiFi on Rex Airlines. Both standard and streaming plans are expected from the company.

Business class passengers, however, will continue to have complimentary access to connectivity on board, even after the trial period ends.

Rex will also offer complimentary stored content featuring movies and TV programs for streaming to personal devices on board.