Update (11 November 2021): Rex has now rolled out Intelsat 2Ku Wi-Fi on 4 of its 6 Boeing 737-800 jets. This is available for free to Business Class passengers and a $10 fee in Economy. Rex has also introduced an in-flight entertainment portal which all passengers on its jet services can access at no cost.
Rex appears to be rolling out free in-flight wifi on at least some of its Boeing 737 jet services – and the internet speed even seems quite fast.
When announcing the airline’s plans to launch 737 domestic flights last year, Rex Deputy Chairman John Sharp said that “lounge access and on-board Wi-Fi will be free for Business Class, whilst Economy passengers can access these options for a small fee”. But when their first Boeing 737 flights between Melbourne and Sydney took off in March, there was no longer any mention of in-flight wifi and it wasn’t available on any of Rex’s flights.
So, AFF member Fortunatecrow was quite surprised when free on-board wifi was available on yesterday afternoon’s Rex flight from Adelaide to Melbourne.
This member posted live updates using the free wifi on board ZL444, which was operated by the aircraft VH-RQC. Fortunatecrow even conducted some speed tests – which showed great results – while in the air.
According to Fortunatecrow, Rex’s in-flight wifi could be accessed at no cost by finding the wifi network, entering a “Captcha” code and accepting the terms & conditions. The service is provided by Gogo Inflight Internet.
While this seems like it would be a great service for Rex passengers, it’s not yet clear whether free wifi will also be rolled out on all other Rex Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Rex has not provided any information about in-flight wifi on its website. In fact, one of the flight attendants on board wasn’t even aware that wifi was available.
Fortunatecrow posted on AFF:
I’m sitting next to a flight attendant. It was news to her, so very new, and not announced. Soft launch maybe to test it before they announce it?
At the time of writing this article, Rex had not responded to our request for comment. We’ll update this article if Rex gets back to us.
Rex does not otherwise offer any in-flight entertainment on its flights, other than the “True Blue” magazine in the seat pocket.
Virgin Australia previously offered free on-board wifi, but this service has been unavailable since the beginning of the pandemic. Virgin has not yet announced whether it intends to reactivate in-flight wifi but continues to offer streaming entertainment via the Virgin Australia Entertainment App.
Qantas offers both free wifi and in-flight entertainment on its mainline domestic flights.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Rex to fly between Australian capital cities
