NBN Co has stressed that Qantas’s decision to cancel this week’s planned launch and test flight of its inflight Wi-Fi service was not, as many – including ChannelNews  – mistakenly believed, caused by ongoing problems with NBN Co’s Sky Muster satellite service.

“NBN understands that the technical issues that caused Qantas to cancel its in-flight Wi-Fi media demonstration flight did not involve the NBN Sky Muster satellite connection,” NBN Co said in a statement issued yesterday.

“Qantas has informed us that the NBN Sky Muster satellite connection that provides connectivity to the aircraft has been performing well – but, as with any technology trial, there’s always a chance things can go awry when you are the first to try something.

“While this is a disappointing, temporary setback, we will continue to work with Qantas and Viasat to get this pioneering technology off-the-ground.”

Qantas had planned to launch the service yesterday with a special two-hour flight for media and other guests aboard the single Boeing 737 that has so far been fitted with the Ka-band satellite equipment required for the inflight service.

It said in a media statement: “We were preparing to open (the service)  up to media and customers this week as we continue our fine-tuning over the next few months, but some stability issues have emerged that we need to fix before customers can use it.”