Airline Wi-Fi guide
Middle East

Etihad Airways Wi-FiWhat’s free, what it costs and how to connect

Etihad sells chat, surf and streaming packages on board over its Etihad Wi-Fly network, with Viasat as the connectivity provider. First Class and top Etihad Guest members get unlimited data free.

Checked 6 November 2026 · prices and policies as of November 2026

Free Wi-Fi First and top Etihad Guest tiers Guests in First get unlimited data free. Lowest listed price From USD 3.99 5 plans listed below, as of November 2026. Streaming Paid Streaming package Etihad sells a separate Streaming package, priced by flight length. Voice and video calls No rule published Etihad Airways doesn’t publish a rule on calls. VPN No rule published Etihad doesn’t publish a VPN rule. Which planes have it Etihad’s Wi-Fi page doesn’t list which aircraft have Wi-Fi.

Step by step

How to connect to Etihad Airways Wi-Fi on a Mac

These steps are from Etihad’s Wi-Fi page.

  1. Wait until the seatbelt signs are switched off.

  2. Turn on Wi-Fi and connect to the Etihad Wi-Fly network.

  3. Choose your package.

  4. Pay by credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Alipay or Etihad Guest Miles.

Etihad doesn’t publish how Etihad Guest members sign in for their free chat or data.

Free

What’s free on Etihad Airways

  • Guests in First get unlimited data free. Etihad says this also extends to the Business and Economy Deluxe fare brands.
  • Etihad Guest Emerald and Platinum members get unlimited data free.
  • Etihad Guest Gold members get 25% off a Wi-Fi package.
  • Chat access is free for all Etihad Guest members.

As of November 2026.

Prices

What Etihad Airways Wi-Fi costs

PlanPrice
Chat package (text only)USD 3.99
Surf package, flight under 7 hoursUSD 9.99 or 1,200 Miles
Surf package, flight over 7 hoursUSD 24.99 or 3,000 Miles
Streaming package, flight under 7 hoursUSD 14.99 or 1,800 Miles
Streaming package, flight over 7 hoursUSD 29.99 or 3,600 Miles

Etihad sells Wi-Fi only on board, not before the flight. It takes major credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Alipay and Etihad Guest Miles.

As of November 2026.

The rules

Streaming, calls and VPNs on Etihad Airways Wi-Fi

Streaming and calls

Streaming: Paid Streaming packageCalls: No rule published

Etihad sells a separate Streaming package, priced by flight length. Viasat says its service lets Etihad guests use their own streaming subscriptions. Etihad also shows live sports and news on seatback screens on longer flights.

VPNs

No rule published

Etihad doesn’t publish a VPN rule.

Aircraft

Who provides Etihad Airways Wi-Fi, and which planes have it

Etihad’s Wi-Fi page doesn’t list which aircraft have Wi-Fi. Viasat says the Boeing 787s, in service since 2023, carry factory-fitted Viasat equipment. So do the A350s delivered from April 2025 and the A321LRs flying since August 2025. Viasat Amara is going onto most of the fleet, but neither company gives a finish date.

Connectivity hell

Etihad Airways Wi-Fi on the complaint board

Etihad Airways isn’t on the Connectivity hell board. These airlines have the most public Wi-Fi complaints in the last 30 days, as of 5 November 2026.

  1. Delta Air Lines 315 in 30 days
  2. United Airlines 74 in 30 days
  3. Southwest Airlines 58 in 30 days
  4. American Airlines 51 in 30 days
  5. JetBlue 23 in 30 days

See the full board · How the count works

On board with Kilobat

Make a slow, shared link go further

Kilobat is a Mac menu-bar app that shows what each app sends and holds back what can wait. On Etihad Airways Wi-Fi:

  • The sign-in page. When it doesn’t open by itself, the menu bar says This Wi-Fi wants you to sign in, with Open sign-in page. Turn your VPN on after you’ve signed in.
  • Mark it metered. macOS treats plane Wi-Fi as unlimited. Mark it Metered in Kilobat’s Wi-Fi & Bluetooth menu or with kilobat networks cost metered, and Kilobat skips its own speed tests. If automatic switching is enabled, it switches to Travel.
  • Updates wait. With Pro, paused updaters enabled and the network filter on, macOS Software Update, App Store downloads, Google Updater and Microsoft AutoUpdate wait for an unmetered network. The apps keep working.
  • See what’s using it. Every app’s upload and download, live in the menu bar, so a messaging-only plan isn’t spent on a sync you forgot.
  • Send later. A big upload, such as Dropbox syncing a folder, shows as a row with its speed. With Pro, Send later can hold it until you’re on unmetered Wi-Fi again, for up to eight hours while Kilobat is open.
  • Know what’s slow. Health shows latency and loss, and with Pro their history through the flight. Those measurements can help you investigate a slow connection. When Slack or Zoom won’t load, Is it them or me? reads the service’s status page.
Download for Mac ↓
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat

Kilobat is free to download and use. Pro adds the parts marked Pro, for $29 once for two Macs, with a 7-day free trial and 14-day refunds. More in what to do before you board.

Free
Safari3.2 MB/s824 MB
Cloud backup2.1 MB/s240 MB
Night Drive186 KB/s312 MB
Kilobat12 KB/s14 MB

What is eating your bandwidth? Live traffic for every app, right in your menu bar. Catch the backup choking your call.

Pro Travel · on a metered network
Cloud backup
Google UpdaterPaused
macOS Software UpdatePaused

Hotspot data gone in an hour? Travel blocks backups, and updaters wait until you’re off the hotspot. The apps keep working.

Questions

Is Etihad Wi-Fi free?

For some guests. First Class guests and Etihad Guest Emerald and Platinum members get unlimited data free. Every Etihad Guest member gets free chat.

Can I pay for Etihad Wi-Fi with miles?

Yes. Surf and Streaming packages can be paid with Etihad Guest Miles, from 1,200 Miles for Surf on a flight under 7 hours.

Can I buy Etihad Wi-Fi before my flight?

No. Etihad says packages can only be bought on board.

What is the Etihad Airways Wi-Fi network called?

Etihad Airways names its Wi-Fi network Etihad Wi-Fly. Join it, then sign in on the page that opens.

Can you stream on Etihad Airways Wi-Fi?

Etihad sells a separate Streaming package, priced by flight length. Viasat says its service lets Etihad guests use their own streaming subscriptions. Etihad also shows live sports and news on seatback screens on longer flights.

Can you use a VPN on Etihad Airways Wi-Fi?

Etihad doesn’t publish a VPN rule.

Why won’t the Etihad Airways Wi-Fi sign-in page open on my Mac?

A VPN, iCloud Private Relay or your own DNS can keep the page from opening. Turn them off, open http://captive.apple.com in Safari, and turn the VPN on again after you’ve signed in. Kilobat shows Open sign-in page when a network is waiting for you.

Sources

Checked on 6 November 2026.

Get your Mac ready for Etihad Airways Wi-Fi.

Download for Mac ↓
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat