Singapore Airlines inflight Wi-Fi & mobile connectivity guide

Singapore Airlines has certainly come a long way since its early experiments with inflight Wi-Fi, which started back in 2001 with the cheesily-named CyberCabin. And despite a few missteps along the way — who can forget the US$1,500 bill a passenger incurred when trying to upload a PowerPoint file — those investments are finally bearing fruit.

In July 2023, Singapore Airlines became the first airline in Asia to offer complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi to passengers across all cabins, and with the retirement of the Boeing 737-800 in October 2025, it can now boast Wi-Fi and inflight connectivity on every single aircraft across the fleet. 

Which Singapore Airlines aircraft offer inflight Wi-Fi?

Inflight Connectivity

Simply put: all of them. You are now guaranteed an aircraft with inflight Wi-Fi, whether you’re taking the 50-minute hop to Kuala Lumpur, or the 18-hour marathon to Newark.

When will inflight Wi-Fi be available?

Inflight Wi-Fi is available when the aircraft reaches cruising altitude, which is above 10,000 feet.

In my experience, you can generally expect Wi-Fi to be available within the first 15 minutes of take-off, and up to 15 minutes before landing. 

What can you access with inflight Wi-Fi?

Given the speeds that Singapore Airlines’ current equipment supports, inflight Wi-Fi is sufficient for emails and web browsing, as well as messaging apps.

It does not support streaming content such as Netflix or YouTube, nor voice calls via platforms like Whatsapp, Telegram and Viber. You can send voice notes and pictures, however. Videos will also be sent — eventually. 

Which passengers enjoy free Wi-Fi?

Suites, First and Business Class passengers enjoy complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi. 

Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers enjoy complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi provided they add their Solitaire PPS Club, PPS Club or KrisFlyer membership number to their booking.

This can be done at the time of booking, during online or airport check-in, at the lounge, or at the boarding gate. 

If you forget, there’s still a way for KrisFlyer members to redeem a code to access Wi-Fi, even when already onboard. Simply enter your seat number and last name, and click the link that appears in the error message.

If you don’t see the prompt, you can visit kw.sq.com and then generate an access code using your KrisFlyer membership details. This will grant you unlimited complimentary Wi-Fi for the duration of the flight.

If you don’t have a KrisFlyer membership number, it is still possible to sign-up during the flight itself.

What if you want to earn miles with a different programme?

If you’re flying in Premium Economy or Economy Class and want to credit your miles to a different frequent flyer programme while still enjoying free Wi-Fi, it’s possible.

There are two ways of doing this. 

When you check-in online, put your KrisFlyer membership number under the Frequent Flyer Details section, then check the box labelled “I want to earn miles on another frequent flyer programme”. In this field, enter the programme you want to accrue miles with.

The technical term for this is FQTS/FQTV splitting, and you can read more about it in the post below. 

Singapore Airlines website now supports FQTV/FQTS splitting

Alternatively, you can simply attach the frequent flyer number of the programme you want to accrue miles with, then once onboard the flight, generate an onboard code using your KrisFlyer membership details. 

How much do paid Wi-Fi plans cost?

If you’re a Premium Economy or Economy Class passenger who does not have a KrisFlyer membership, and does not want to sign up for one (for whatever reason), you will need to buy a paid Wi-Fi plan. 

All plans are now time-based, a welcome change from the pre-COVID era where you’d pay US$15.99 for a 200MB plan which would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Wi-Fi plans aren’t particularly expensive, but again, there’s no reason why you should be paying. It costs nothing to sign up for KrisFlyer!

How many devices can connect at one time?

If you’re flying on an aircraft with the SITAOnAir system, only a single device can be connected to the network at a time.

If you’re flying on an aircraft with the Panasonic system, you can connect up to three devices simultaneously to your complimentary Wi-Fi plan, depending on your cabin and status.

Paid Wi-Fi plans cannot be shared, regardless of system.

Now, all that having been said, there is a workaround. To overcome the sharing limit, you can connect your mobile phone to the Wi-Fi network and then activate its hotspot feature to share the connection with other devices. This has always worked fine on my Google Pixel 6, 7 and 9 Pro devices, with the tethered devices not counting towards the connection limit

Mobile data via cellular service

In addition to Wi-Fi, you can also get data connectivity through your mobile phone. Singapore Airlines aircraft equipped with Wi-Fi systems provide cell service through either OnAir or AeroMobile. 

Unlike Wi-Fi plans, these will cover multiple flights within the subscription window (because the allowance is tied to your mobile number, as opposed to your flight number). 

While mobile data may appear to be the better deal (especially if you’re on Singtel) compared to paid Wi-Fi plans, I should warn you that speeds are much slower than Wi-Fi. It’s barely 3G, and I reckon most people would be happier with Wi-Fi instead.

But even if you don’t plan to use mobile data, it’s still good to have mobile network service onboard because it allows you to receive SMS OTPs as per normal. There is no charge for receiving SMS inflight.

Where is coverage available?

For Wi-Fi systems powered by SITAOnAir, coverage is available around the world except when flying over India, Iran and Turkish airspace.

Panasonic systems enjoy global Wi-Fi coverage.

Do note that services will also be unavailable when the aircraft is flying over certain areas, like the polar regions. This affects the following flights:

What kind of speeds can you expect?

Wi-Fi speeds vary depending on a lot of factors such as weather, altitude, and location, but in my general experience I’ve found them to be average at best. 

I have never gotten anything faster than download speeds of 8 Mbps with SITAOnAir, and 5 Mbps with the Panasonic systems. Don’t expect to be streaming Netflix or YouTube (both apps are blocked in any case), or doing anything beyond regular web browsing and email. If you want to watch your own videos, be sure to download them to your device before boarding.

To be clear, there is no difference in Wi-Fi speeds based on cabin— Suites passengers will have the same connection as Economy Class folks.

With other carriers like Qatar Airways and United now claiming triple-digits speeds through Starlink, Singapore Airlines is in danger of being left behind.

Conclusion

Singapore Airlines now offers Wi-Fi across its entire fleet, and it’s completely free of charge to all passengers.

The only caveat is that Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers must have a PPS Club or KrisFlyer membership number, but that doesn’t cost you anything, and you can even sign up inflight. 

If you don’t wish to join KrisFlyer, then paid plans are available starting from US$3.99 for 1 hour and maxing out at US$15.99 for the full flight.

My only wish is that connection speeds were faster. It’s surreal to be browsing from 35,000 feet, but the frustration quickly sets in when everything slows to a crawl. Hopefully Singapore Airlines will join the numerous carriers partnering with Starlink, and make triple-digit speeds a reality.