Experts believe Qantas and Virgin Australia will be increasingly pressured to offer in-flight Wi-Fi on international routes now that most of their partners and competitors do so. "American, Delta, and United now offer Wi-Fi on nearly all flights [from Australia] to the United States, but neither Qantas nor Virgin Australia do," Jason Rabinowitz, data manager for airline product differentiation platform Routehappy, said. "At some point, passenger demand is going to force them to offer it." Rabinowitz's comments came as Routehappy released its annual Global State of In-Flight WiFi report. It has found 60 airlines worldwide offer in-flight WiFi in most regions, representing 36% of all kilometres flown globally and 78% in the US. Low-cost carrier Scoot is the only airline that offers it on all flights. However, Delta has WiFi available the most on the basis of kilometres flown. Qantas and Virgin do not offer in-flight WiFi on domestic or international fleets. Both have held off for various reasons, including passenger acceptance, the slow satellite speeds and concerns about investing a lot of capital in a technology that may become obsolete given there are several competing solutions in the market.<br/>However, both airlines have also said they will continue to explore options.<br/>
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Severe thunderstorms in Sydney on Thursday killed at least one person and injured another, police said, with winds of 122 kmph lashing Australia's busiest airport, besides ripping down power lines and closing roads. A man was killed and a woman passenger suffered critical injuries when a falling tree crushed their car in the city's west. The fierce winds, rain and hail struck Sydney after a blistering day that drove temperatures to 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), the Bureau of Meteorology said, forcing disruptions at the city's international airport. The storm had caused delays and diversions, Sydney Airport said in a Twitter message, urging passengers to check with individual airlines for details.<br/>
When it comes to working at 40,000 feet, Americans have fewer excuses to slack off than their peers around the globe: American, Delta, and United lead the world in having most of their fleets equipped with relatively decent WiFi. Almost three-fourths of US airline “seat miles,” an industry measure of capacity, now have WiFi, according to the “Global State of Inflight WiFi” report from Routehappy, a company that tracks airline amenities. “Basically, when flying in the US, unless you are on the smallest regional jets and turboprops, or an ultra low-cost carrier, the chance of having WiFi is almost certain,” said Jason Rabinowitz, data research manager at the New York startup. Emirates, the largest airline in international service, ranks fourth on the WiFi-connected list, followed by Southwest, according to Routehappy's annual report, released Thursday. Outside the US, only 53 airlines offer WiFi. <br/>
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer ended 2015 with firm orders from 13 customers for 185 commercial aviation jets, a 24.2% increase over 2014. In total, Embraer’s 2015 orders comprised 94 E175s, 40 E195-E2s, 21 E195s, 17 E190-E2s and 13 E190s. Cumulatively, Embraer’s major orders for the year came from SkyWest Airlines, Azul, US lessor Aircastle, China’s Hainan Airlines and KLM. Embraer delivered 101 commercial aviation aircraft to 13 customers during the year – a 9.8% increase over the company’s 92 commercial aviation deliveries in 2014. <br/>