Starlink WiFi and Qatar Airways: the perfect connection

In October 2022, SpaceX launched high-speed, low latency internet for aviation via its Starlink satellites.

Doing so was no easy matter: gaining regulatory approval for in-flight internet is a long and complex process, subject to measures and safety margins that anyone who is not a specialized aeronautical engineer would consider absurd, like the useless rules that, for years, forced us to keep our mobile phones turned off because they could interfere with air-to-ground communication, despite the lack of any evidence to support this. In 2014, the rules were changed. And of course, nothing happened.

Now, Qatar Airways is the first major airline to close a deal with SpaceX to provide its aircraft with broadband internet access (500MB/sec) through its Starlink satellite network, and thanks to the phenomenal cost savings it represents for the airline compared to the existing alternatives so far, will be offered to all passengers free of charge. Some smaller airlines — Hawaiian Airlines, JSX, AirBaltic and ZIPAIR — have already offered similar internet access using SpaceX’s low-orbit satellites.

For the time being, the service will only be available on Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777–300ERs. Regulatory approval has to be carried out for each model of aircraft, which means it will be some time before access is…