NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 26 – Kenya Airways (KQ) plans to begin installing onboard Wi-Fi on its long-haul aircraft from the second quarter of 2027 as the national carrier seeks to improve passenger experience.
Acting Managing Director and CEO George Kamal said the rollout will begin with aircraft operating long-haul routes to London, Paris, New York, China and Amsterdam before being extended to shorter routes.
“From Q2 2027, one aircraft—every aircraft comes into the hangar we start installing one by one. We’ll start with the long range first which is London, Paris, JFK, China, and Amsterdam,” Kamal said.
He said the installation would later be extended to aircraft operating shorter routes.
KQ already has one Boeing 777 aircraft equipped with Wi-Fi, which Kamal said would help reduce the cost of the initial rollout.
“This process can take time but at least we will be starting. We have one aircraft which is equipped—the Triple 7 is equipped, we are ready, so the cost of the Triple 7 is lower,” he said.
Kamal said the main challenge to installing Wi-Fi across the fleet is the high upfront cost.
“It costs us for our fleet, the current fleet is about $20 million to $22 million to install Wi-Fi onboard,” he said.
The rollout comes as more airlines introduce in-flight connectivity, with about 70 percent of global commercial airlines now offering Wi-Fi services.
KQ’s planned investment will allow passengers on long-haul flights to access internet services while onboard, before the service is extended to the rest of the fleet.
