Among 31 airports of 13 Asia-Pacific countries, 25 airports offer unlimited access to the Internet. Including four airports giving Wi-Fi service with time or area restrictions, 96.8 percent of them are offering complimentary Wi-Fi. (image: Kobizmedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – While less than 60 percent of all major airports in the world offer free Wi-Fi services, all airports in Korea, eight international airports and seven domestic airports, boast not only unlimited free Internet access but also Wi-Fi with the maximum speed of 1 Gbps.
Skyscanner, a travel search site, analyzed data collected from 115 airports of 37 countries, finding out that 98 airports, or 86.9 percent, are offering complimentary Wi-Fi, 57.4 percent of which allow passengers to surf the Internet for free without time or data limits. In terms of continent, 80.6 percent of airports in the Asia-Pacific region enable passengers to have free access to the Internet, whereas only 57.1 percent in North America and 47.1 percent in Europe provide unlimited free Wi-Fi.
Among 31 airports of 13 Asia-Pacific countries, 25 airports offer unlimited access to the Internet. Including four airports giving Wi-Fi service with time or area restrictions, 96.8 percent of them are offering complimentary Wi-Fi.
Among all those countries, South Korea is especially noteworthy. All eight international airports in Korea such as Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport offer unlimited free Wi-Fi. In particular, passengers flying to and from Incheon Airport, the winner of the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) for nine consecutive years, find the fastest Wi-Fi with the maximum speed of 1 Gbps in the world. Moreover, seven Korean domestic airports all provide free Internet service to passengers even though they were not subject to the survey.
All eight international airports in Korea such as Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport offer unlimited free Wi-Fi. (image: Manolo Gómez/flickr)
In contrast, some airports offer limited access to the Internet. In some Chinese airports, foreigners are required to have a PIN to use the Internet. Complimentary Internet access at airports in Australia and New Zealand is available only for the first 30 minutes to three hours. In North America, only eight airports have free Wi-Fi service. In case of Europe, less than a half of 70 airports of 22 countries provide the service.
“As an increasing number of passengers use mobile devices including smartphones, laptops or tablets at an airport while waiting for their planes, it is important for international airports to have free Wi-Fi service,” Kim Hyun-min, a Skyscanner official said. “It would be wise if you check out whether complimentary Wi-Fi service is available at an airport you are planning to use,” he added.
By Veronica Huh (veronicah@kobizmedia.co.kr)
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