In-flight Wi-Fi boom shows travel is changing in Covid Era

Data traffic over satellite company Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd.’s European Aviation Network rose to a record in the final week of August, according to Chief Executive Officer Rupert Pearce. Global airline traffic was still down almost 80% in July compared to the same month a year earlier.

“It suggests there’s some semblance of normality beginning to return to some segments of the aviation market,” Pearce said in an interview. He pointed to a partial recovery in short and medium-haul flights after pandemic travel restrictions were eased.

The data rebound also reflects new internet habits formed under lockdown, said Alexander Grous, an expert on airline strategy and economics at the London School of Economics, who has previously written research on behalf of Inmarsat.