Heathrow Trails, JFK Tops In Airport Wi-Fi Stress Index - Holafly

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- London Heathrow ranked last and New York’s JFK first among eight international business hubs in eSIM provider Holafly’s Airport WiFi Stress Index, which compares airport Wi-Fi conditions for business travellers.

At JFK, Wi-Fi speeds reach 151.6 megabits per second (Mbps), enough to download a large presentation in about 30 seconds, while at Heathrow speeds drop to 12 Mbps, meaning the same file takes more than five minutes, or up to 13 minutes during the morning rush, Holafly said in a statement.

“Every minute an employee spends waiting for a file to load is time the company is paying for,” said Holafly Head of Sales for B2B Direct Sales, Davide Ilardi.

Some airports also limit free Wi-Fi sessions. In Frankfurt, sessions expire after 30 minutes and in Dubai after 60 minutes, with each additional hour costing about US$5.40. (US$1 = RM4.05)

Holafly’s 2026 Summer Travel & eSIM Report found that 53.4 per cent of business travellers arrange their own connection. The company said this leaves employers with less control and puts corporate data at risk on public networks, where users may also be asked for personal information to log in.

Among business travellers given an eSIM by their company, 81.3 per cent expect it to improve their productivity, compared with 52.4 per cent of those who arrange their own connection.

Holafly offers a business service that lets companies assign international eSIMs to employees before they travel and manage their plans online. The company said this gives teams mobile data on arrival, allowing them to access work tools securely without relying on airport Wi-Fi.

-- BERNAMA