Qantas Airways welcomes Foxtel, Netflix and Spotify on board this February

Qantas Airways' (ASX: QAN) domestic flights customers will have an improved flight experience as the airline welcomes Foxtel, Netflix and Spotify on board before February ends. With this new service, the airline assured that the passengers will be able to watch their favourite shows, avoid missing out on live sport and listen to songs while on board.

In a media release of Qantas, the airline will offer customers video and audio streaming with speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional inflight Wi-Fi. On the other hand, the service will also be available to the rest of the airline’s fleet of domestic Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft in the middle of 2017.

“We know that email, online shopping and general web browsing will be popular uses when we switch on Wi-Fi, but what a lot of people relish about flying is being able to catch up on their favourite TV shows or watch movies they didn’t get to see at the cinema,” Qantas Group Executive of Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Olivia Wirth said.

Wirth explained that Foxtel and Netflix both have huge catalogues that are expanding all the time, so there will be no shortage of entertainment on board. She said that Spotify would also open this up for customers to listen to any song. Foxtel, Netflix and Spotify are all paid subscription services but these will be free to Qantas customers on and off the aircraft for between three days and one month after their Qantas flight.

Foxtel will also offer three days free access to its Foxtel app every time a customer flies. No sign-up to a subscription is required. On the other hand, Netflix will offer new customers access to the entire Netflix service as part of a 30-day free trial. Moreover, existing Netflix members will only need to log in to continue watching at no extra charge.

Furthermore, Spotify will offer a 30-day free trial of its Premium music service, which has no ads, has shuffle play and unlimited skips. Netflix and Spotify will require customers to sign up to access the free trial. At present, Qantas is discussing with suppliers to extend Wi-Fi services for its international and regional fleets to develop a product that can overcome a number of technical, performance and coverage challenges.

Meanwhile, Foxtel Executive Director (ED) of Television Brian Walsh said that the company was delighted to extend partnership with Qantas to support the new service for its passengers. On the other hand, Netflix’s global head of business development Bill Holmes also expressed that Qantas was at the forefront of providing free and fast inflight Wi-Fi. Finally, Managing Director at Spotify Australia & New Zealand Kate Vale said that their company was excited to work with Qantas on innovating and enhancing the customer experience inflight.