Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines To Offer Free Messaging On Long-Haul Flights
The Lufthansa Group has announced an improvement in onboard services as the carrier is upgrading the fleet’s technical capabilities in order to offer free messaging service on long-haul flights. Under this program, Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines passengers will soon be able to utilize complimentary […]
The Lufthansa Group has announced an improvement in onboard services as the carrier is upgrading the fleet’s technical capabilities in order to offer free messaging service on long-haul flights.
Under this program, Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines passengers will soon be able to utilize complimentary messaging which is already on many (not all) short and medium-haul aircraft.
Generally speaking, the free messenger service on Lufthansa flights on short—and medium-haul routes is working quite well, but what has been kind of annoying is that not every plane is equipped with the required technology. For example, my recent Frankfurt-London flight had no messenger option available.
At least for the long-haul fleet of Austrian, Lufthansa, and SWISS (OS and LX flights will only have this feature on “select flights”), there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon, and passengers can soon look forward to proper connectivity on a complimentary basis.
Here is the press release provided by Lufthansa regarding the new service:
Communicate with your loved ones online free of charge on a flight to the USA, Brazil or Japan? Yes! From the summer, Lufthansa will also offer unlimited free messaging on its intercontinental flights. Passengers will be able to send and receive any number of messages, including photos, during the flight on their own smartphone or tablet via the familiar apps, regardless of their travel class.
“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.”
“What is already a great success on short and medium-haul flights will also be very popular with our guests on long-haul flights,” says Heiko Reitz, Chief Customer Officer at Lufthansa Airlines. “Being reachable even during a long flight has long been a basic need and a decisive factor when choosing an airline. Free messages, as well as in-flight internet, for example, therefore offer a portfolio of digital services that is very attractive to our customers.”
The Lufthansa Group airlines SWISS and Austrian Airlines also offer free messaging on selected long-haul flights. The service has been available on short and medium-haul flights with Lufthansa and on numerous Austrian Airlines aircraft since 2024 and has been a great success.
Here we go again, “select flights” for Austrian and SWISS so you might or might not end up having it. If you don’t, then there is no choice other than to buy onboard internet.
The announcement suggests that Lufthansa’s long-haul fleet will be the most consistent, and passengers should always have access to the new free messaging option.
An exact date from which on free text messages are available isn’t available, only that it will roll out in the summer so I think the safe bet would be to expect it from August and beyond.
Conclusion
From this summer, the Lufthansa Group will make complimentary messaging available to passengers on Lufthansa flights, and Austrian/SWISS customers will also be able to enjoy the service but only on select flights. It’s unlikely passengers will know in advance if it’s available or not.
Let’s keep in mind that other carriers, such as Singapore Airlines, have already had free messaging services available for quite a long time as long as the KrisFlyer frequent flyer number is added to the reservation. So Lufthansa’s approach isn’t exactly novel, but I guess it’s good that they finally took the initiative.
