If Wizz and Ryan don't see the reason, JU should not worry. They were ahead of KLM by a decade.

If JU was ahead of KL by a decade then they would have wifi today. JU tried to introduce it but failed. Now it makes no sense since they rely on wetleases for their flights. This summer they will have a lot of them, I think 7 wetleases in total.

KLM and others will learn wifi is overrated for short haul. FR W6 and JU already know.

WiFi is not overrated, it's an absolute must nowadays.

For whom? The average flight from the ExYU region must be well under 2hours.

^ SMFH with the willful ignorance of our region.
People think that JU can compete with LCC's on price instead of looking how the other full service carriers of Europe compete with the likes of FR and U2.
Hint: trying to compete with LCCs on cost alone won't work. You need to have a level of service that will get the frequent flyers chose you over them.
The rest of Europe understood this, our region probably needs one more decade.

@'^ caret man i'm not sure its willful ignorance of the region rather forward planning is often a case of retrospective action.
In terms if internet, many of JU's routes that are very useful to frequent fliers, are those regional ones done by ATR72s which as i understand do nowadays have the ability be retrofited with wifi. If the cost is worth it i'm not sure.
On a fair number of its routes JU does compete with LCCs far more than it does so-called legacy carriers.

^ JU competes with LCCs for the most price sensitive flyers while LHG, KL, A3, TK etc. get the business and higher fare paying customers who do care about things such as Wifi, FF points, good lounges, corporate programs.
Guess who makes the most money.

LH, KL and others understood who needs internet: businessmen.

Many of them are found on those morning departures going around Europe so answering emails and having access to internet can mean a lot. Especially since they can't deal with emails and all that after they land and until they are at the office or a coffeeshop.

It's exactly these businessmen who are going to pay €500 to fly from MUC to AMS or from FRA to MXP. These airlines are introducing wifi because of them.

Also it will help their brand if your average person posts a picture of the cabin, winglet... on their social media. It's a free ad for the airline.

Comparing businessman from Frankfurt, Munich and Milan to Serbia is hilarious. I am from Serbia and love Serbia but many people here seem detached from how poor Serbia as a market is. Yes, there are a handful of people who travel to Thailand and people are taking more holidays because overall disposable income has increased but it is still very poor compared to Western Europe. Serbia generates very little business compared to Western Europe and business travel is minimal. I have many criticism towards JU but they have understood the market extremely well. That is why there is no more "boutique" JU with a separate dedicated business class product, which, at the time they were dumping prices on the market in 2014 and 2015 was empty.

Saying Serbia generates very little business travel is next level unhinged. Business travel might be smaller compared to Western Europe but there are plenty of people traveling for business departing from Belgrade. Not everyone is stuck 1980 over here anymore, there are plenty of folks in many modern markets doing extraordinary stuff and the number of them will just keep increasing. If Air Serbia wants to capture future business demand, they might want to start catching up with European competition today. Having WiFi onboard is a no brainer.

+1 JU is not ever going to be a business heavy airline. Sticking to moving people efficiently around the region is key. And it does it well. Personally i find JU far better than its homehub, the business class facilities are horrid. Wifi on its aircraft? Not a priority for most people

What is this new obsession by saying JU is focused on flying people around the region. What region? If you mean ex-YU then it's only TGD and TIV that have some sort of serious demand, the rest is tiny.

Even Balkans is not that much. Most demand at JU comes from western Europe and not the region.

JU's great strength is its network around the Balkans which compliment its routes to western europe. Its not very competative on any aspect without being strong in 'the region'.

@10:56 "WiFi is not overrated, it's an absolute must nowadays. "

Elon, is that you? Ryanair got the best of you?

Personally i'll try to avoid using anything to do with mr. musk.

OU made a bad decision when they didn't go for them...

@10:34 if they can justify it to their shareholders. Most 'legacy' carries outside our region are private entities which must justify the business case for it.

KLM uses Viasat as a provider. It has a significally lower response time and speed than Starlink.

AF too.

Not when you are travelling on business or just generally have a job with a digital role. Killing flight time by doing work on your laptop is a huge advantage.

That is correct, but price remains key to the average passenger.

Couldn't agree more.

JU's business focus is heading towards leisure market so it's pointless to introduce wifi across the fleet which is already due to be retired (A319) or on wet leases. Their 1/3 of the fleet are regional planes after all. They are fine without wifi in a near future.

I agree. I would rather they offered something old school like free tea and coffee than wifi which invariably takes a significant proportion of the flight to make work.

And what will JU do when leisure market dies out after summer? Chase those who chase the lowest fare out there?

JU needs to attract businessmen to fly with them but they don't seem interested in doing it.

@10:57,

have you ever been on one of those KLM City Hoppers?
I literally get panic attacks because legroom is sufficient for a 160cm tall person.
Using a phone is a challenge, let alone opening a laptop in one of those 😅

They should provide oxygen canisters instead of Wifi.

@ anon 13:30
What's the point of putting wi-fi in 10 turboprops with average flight time of one hour or less, or in A319s which will be phased out? That leaves you with a couple of A320s, couple of E-jets and a couple of A330s one of which is for stand by only. If/when JU buy brand new a/c or at least have a decent number of A320s / E-jets, then we could talk about wi-fi onboard. Business passengers as someone said will survive 2 hour flight without wi-fi.

Have you actually been on the E2 or the E90 with the new cabin interior? You obviously have not because those planes are great inside. If you get panic attacks then you might want to consult a doctor and definitely avoid JUs ATRs and A320s.

@14:07 exactly! Hahaha flying London City - Amsterdam during morning rush is a sea of hilarity with attempts to open laptops on the knees. Mercifully it only takes 40minutes before the crush of the bus gate transfer to the terminal in Amsterdam which is always less than fun.

+1

Maybe for you. For people in competitive industries, those 2 hours make a difference. And if you think online working is all about "pressing send" then you really aren't qualified to talk about this topic.

Perhaps you need some down time. Take a breath. Relax...i'm sure your work can wait a bit

@ Anon 11:33 - original poster here. Flying is unpredictable. Flights get delayed, wifi sometimes doesn't work, even if it is offered by the airline, etc. If your job requires you to be constantly online, it would be irresponsible to perform it while flying.

@11:54
+1

That poor author doesnt know that. Loool

True, even if they fly a pathetic 1x weekly in winter.