Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has renewed the push for ‘seamless’ travel between Australia and New Zealand which would make crossing the Tasman no different to crossing into another Australian state. This would mean no passports, no immigration or customs checks. The Qantas chief claims that it would boost tourism as well as making it easier for business travellers. A big advantage of this for Qantas would be reduced infrastructure costs as New Zealand flights could depart from domestic rather than international airports.
Qantas postpones launch of in-flight wi-fi (Marketing)
Qantas has postponed the launch of its in-flight wi-fi because of what it calls “stability issues” and now expects the service to come online in the middle of the year.
The introduction of free in-flight Wi-Fi to Qantas’ domestic fleet was first announced early last year, with the award-winning airline bringing the service to their customers through ViaSat, a technology which taps into the NBN network using satellites. It’s being said that speeds will reach up to around 20Mps, which around 10 times faster than many in-flight Wi-Fi services in other countries.
Qantas will be rolling out new partnerships with Netflix, Spotify, Foxtel and Stan which will see their services incorporated into the airline’s in-flight entertainment. Passengers on all domestic Qantas flights will have full access to these comprehensive libraries.
The deal with Stan works in a slightly similar capacity to the airline’s other partnerships with Netflix, Spotify and Foxtel in that passengers who book with Qantas will be offered a free subscription included in their fare to use both during and after the flight. The different here is that Stan are offering passengers a three-month subscription, whereas Netflix and Spotify subscriptions are both one-month, and Foxtel’s offering sits a three-day trial subscription.
Rather than Qantas shrinking parts of its business the company is well and truly in the renewal stage of the Product Life Cycle. The great result will also allow Qantas to focus on new products such as high speed in-flight Wi-Fi and fleet renewal. The airline is expecting the arrival of the new Dreamliner aircraft later this year. Qantas also needs to decide which aircraft to buy for its direct long haul flights to New York and London.
Source: Qantas wants travel to NZ to be just like travel within Australia by David Flynn Australian Business Traveller March 15th, Qantas delays in-flight Wi-Fi by Chris Griffith The Australian March 27th.