What is StarlinkInflight internet access has taken another leap
Access the internet on most planes, and you’ll be taken back to the late 90s: the era of dial-up and patiently waiting for a webpage to load. Things haven’t really moved forward much in the last five years. I’ve had a couple of reasonable experiences of onboard Wi-Fi, and some were so sluggish that they were unusable. That’s about to change.
What is Starlink
Elon Musk’s series of satellites that allow consumers and businesses to access the internet from across the globe. It’s particularly useful for people in rural locations, those in warzones or those on transport. You can strap a Starlink receiver to a boat to get fast internet, and also planes. The latter is served by a subsidiary of Starlink called Starlink Aviation.
What was today’s launch?
Qatar flew a 777 from Doha to London with Starlink activated. Their CEO Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer made a video call on the plane to demonstrate how quick it was. Qatar isn’t the first airline to deploy Starlink, but it’s the first in the Middle East, and this is the largest plan to have flown with Starlink active.
What speed will Starlink deliver on Qatar?
The press release that came out today was missing the most important part: what speed could you experience. A release back in 2023 that talked about the pending launch did say “passengers will be able to enjoy ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds of up to 350 Megabits per second”. That’s a significant leap from the single digit mb/s that you can get today, if you’re really lucky.
Hawaiian Airlines is another operator of Starlink, and a reddit thread shows users getting speeds of up to 303mbps download and 50.1mbps upload.
Starlinks’ own website lists a range of 40 – 220 Megabits per second for airline downloads and 8 – 25 Megabits per second for uploads. That is still a decent speed on a plane.
Do we really want fast internet on planes?
Fast internet opens the door to doing more on planes. That means you can do some relatively good things, like downloading large files quickly or streaming (and listening quietly in your headphones) on Netflix. It also means you could video call a friend and talk really loudly. Like most advances in technology it’s a double edged sword.
It will take time for Qatar to roll this out across all of their fleet – some aircraft types, like the A380 do not yet have certification for Starlink. They plan to introduce it across 12 777’s by the end of 2024, and then their entire 777 fleet by the end of 2025. That’s quite a fast rollout. They will start installing it on their A350s by summer 2025. No word on the 787 which is certified to install Starlink.
How much will Starlink cost on Qatar?
Qatar has said that access to the internet will be free across all cabins.
As the first Middle Eastern carrier to use Starlink, it puts them in a great position in a competitive market. Will their success encourage sister airlines British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus to use this technology?
Air France has announced that they will start deploying Starlink technology across their fleet from 2025, so with increased competition there is a great chance that BA will want to play catch-up.
