In-flight Wi-Fi to Come to More Hawaii Routes

You can now connect to the Internet on flights to Hawaii on more aircraft types.

That’s thanks to Viasat’s third-generation F1 satellite, enabled for commercial use Monday. One of the biggest improvements of the new satellite is that it provides long-awaited coverage on routes from the mainland to Hawaii.

In the future, any Viasat-equipped aircraft flying from the mainland to Hawaii will be able to access satellite signals and an internet connection.

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Traditionally, passengers flying on planes with Viasat antennas have been unable to connect to the internet after leaving coverage areas above the continental United States.

For some travelers, that’s reason enough to fly on planes equipped with global internet providers like Panasonic. In the United States, however, Panasonic’s internet service is largely limited to wide-body, long-haul jets flown by American Airlines and United Airlines.

While these carriers sometimes deploy twin-aisle jets on Choose popular Hawaii routesMost routes from the US mainland to Hawaii are operated by single-aisle aircraft without Panasonic.

In fact, American, Delta Air Lines, United, and Southwest Airlines all have jets flying to Hawaii equipped with Viasat antennas that were previously inactive on those flights.

The new Viasat satellite was tested in the first half of the year and the provider seemed quite satisfied with the results so it activated this enhanced service.

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While Viasat has talked about third generation satellites for quite a whileLast year, the ViaSat-3 launch encountered major technical problems as the satellite was launched into orbit.

Viasat was initially uncertain whether the new satellites would be salvageable, but the company said:

“Extensive on-orbit testing demonstrated that all other systems on the satellite performed at or above expectations. And while anomalies in antenna deployments resulted in significant reductions in overall capacity, the resilience and high-performance specifications of the ViaSat-3 satellite system still allow the satellite to support high-speed broadband services to airline customers across North America, where the satellite is deployed.”

At the end of this article, you will find detailed information on flights from the mainland to Hawaii by internet provider. Note that aircraft replacements are always possible and the data is based on Cirium’s schedule for flights scheduled in August 2024.

If you need to connect, check with your airline before your flight to make sure your plane has connectivity features when flying over Hawaii.

In the future, United will be the only airline not to offer Wi-Fi on all routes to Hawaii because some of its planes still use Thales satellites that only operate over the continental United States.

Note that Hawaiian Airlines is in the process of being installed. Free high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi across its entire fleet, which will operate on all routes to the United States. These renovations are expected to be completed by the end of this year.