[Anchor]
It is time for our Friendly Economy segment on Friday, and reporter Han Jiyeon is here with us. Han, you compared various fabric freshener products, right?
[Reporter]
Yes, the Korea Consumer Agency compared eight fabric freshener products. Five of them did a good job removing ammonia odors.
However, not a single one of the eight products showed relative superiority in eliminating foul, rotting odors.
Most households have at least one fabric freshener, don't they?
The test evaluated four types of odors in total:
Ammonia, which has a sharp, pungent smell; trimethylamine, which smells like fishy; hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs; and methyl mercaptan, which smells like rotting cabbage.
First, the results for ammonia and fishy smells were decent.
Five brands—W.Dressroom, Saffron Care, Snuggle, AURA, and Febreze—received three stars, designating them as relatively excellent.
Bouquet Garni, Living Baekseo, and Pigeon stopped at just one star, meaning average performance.
The real problem, however, lies with the rotten egg and rotting cabbage odors.
All eight products fell short against these types of smells.
To sum it up, if you choose your product carefully, you can expect relatively better deodorizing performance against ammonia odors from pet waste or bathrooms. On the other hand, all eight tested products only reached an average level when it came to foul odor components that typically come from food waste or drains.
[Anchor]
How much do the prices vary?
[Reporter]
Comparing prices per 100ml, the cheapest was 656 won and the most expensive was 1,479 won.
There was a difference of up to 2.3 times between products.
Higher prices did not necessarily mean better performance.
Saffron Care was the cheapest, while Snuggle was the most expensive.
Saffron Care, which proudly made it into the group of five products that received relatively excellent ratings for ammonia and fishy odors, is also the most affordable option.
However, it is not a cure-all.
When looking specifically at the performance of removing the smell of grilled meat, Snuggle and AURA were rated relatively excellent, while W.Dressroom, Bouquet Garni, Living Baekseo, Febreze, and Pigeon were graded as fair. Saffron Care, the affordable option we mentioned earlier, was the only one among the eight to fall back to an average rating here.
Next is the lingering scent to check.
The residual fragrance was scored on a scale from 1 to 3. Saffron Care scored 1, leaving almost no scent, whereas AURA scored 2.9, leaving the strongest fragrance behind.
If you like strong scents, you can choose AURA, and if you prefer a subtle hint of fragrance, Saffron Care is an option. You can pick according to your preference.
In short, Saffron Care is affordable and strong against ammonia and fishy smells, while Snuggle and AURA are relatively superior at removing meat odors.
[Anchor]
Moving on to our last topic, satellites are now providing Wi-Fi to airplanes.
[Reporter]
Airlines are racing to adopt high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi using low-Earth orbit satellites, heating up the competition for free services.
Passengers can no longer use the excuse that they missed KakaoTalk messages because they were in flight.
It is expected that people will be able to connect to the internet and watch as many movies as they want.
This is because of Starlink.
It is Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite internet network densely deployed in low-altitude orbits.
Because the satellites are much closer than traditional ones, speeds are faster and latency is shorter.
Korean Air currently charges for Wi-Fi.
Once the final system checks for Starlink are completed, the airline plans to offer free access across all of its aircraft.
Asiana Airlines, which is facing a merger, has not stood idly by.
Currently, on its A350 fleet, it charges $11.95—about 16,000 won in Korean currency—for one hour, and around $21.95, or about 30,000 won, for unlimited use. It also began system upgrade work starting last month.
In addition to them, five airlines including Jin Air, Air Busan, and Air Seoul are all scheduled to adopt Starlink.
Overseas carriers are taking things a step further.
Delta Air Lines has adopted or plans to adopt Amazon's satellite internet by 2028, and JetBlue has been doing so since last year.
American Airlines has teamed up with telecommunications provider AT&T to offer free internet on more than 2 million flights annually.
So why are airlines pouring so much money into this? Because if in-flight Wi-Fi works smoothly and fast, passengers will think, "I can watch movies and work if I take this airline," and choose to fly with them again.
In short, the competition has shifted from whether in-flight Wi-Fi is available or not to how fast and free it is.
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