Until now, Lufthansa Group passengers on short- and medium-haul flights had to pay comparatively high fees for the WiFi internet offered by Deutsche Telekom. By mid-January 2024, at least the basic offer, which should enable messaging including photo sending, will be free.

Most aircraft in the Airbus A320 fleet are currently equipped with Internet technology. However, the contractual partners of the passengers are not the Lufthansa Group airlines themselves, but rather Deutsche Telekom AG. They are the official provider of WiFi above the clouds. There has been repeated criticism for the high usage fees, as numerous competitors offer at least the basic version completely free of charge.

This will probably also be the case at the Lufthansa Group from mid-January 2024. At least the messaging version will be offered free of charge on short- and medium-haul flights that are operated with appropriately equipped aircraft from the A320 series. At the same time, the Kranich Group announces that Deutsche Telekom will reduce the tariffs of paid packages.

This may also be due to the simple fact that many travelers have given up using the Internet above the clouds due to the high costs. “Lufthansa is investing around two billion euros in product and service improvements. We have implemented and planned many large, medium-sized and also smaller initiatives that make traveling with Lufthansa an even better experience,” says Heiko Reitz, CCO Lufthansa Airlines. “A nice example is free messaging. “I am pleased that our guests will be able to stay in touch with their loved ones or business partners above the clouds in the future – and it will be free of charge.”

The prerequisite for using the new free service is to log in to FlyNet with a Miles & More service card number or with an email address registered with the Lufthansa Group Travel ID. A new registration or registration is also possible during the flight.