Elon Musk’s Starlink a win for passengers

Internet connectivity while flying has just become much better for passengers flying with Qatar Airways. The airline has carried out its first scheduled flight featuring Elon Musk’s Starlink internet connectivity. 

INFLIGHT INTERNET CONNECTIVITY

Though not widely available across the skies, internet connectivity has improved in recent years.

A number of international carriers now provide it as a complimentary service (sometimes with restrictions) or otherwise as a paid option.

Some airlines offer limited internet data to passengers in economy class on their flights.

INVESTING IN INFLIGHT INTERNET TECHNOLOGY

However, as inflight internet connectivity becomes more of a selling point, more airlines have begun to offer this on their flights.

The service does not come cheap though.

Carriers must spend a lot of money to invest in this technology.

IMPROVED INFLIGHT INTERNET SERVICE

Inflight internet connectivity has improved over the years. That said, it is rather expensive to offer on planes.

Airlines that implement Starlink technology operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX must spend large sums of money to install it on their aircraft.

Hence, only a few carriers offer this. Furthermore, it is often available only on certain aircraft, not across entire fleets.

This means that not all passengers on all flights are able to enjoy excellent inflight WiFi connectivity.  

BENEFITS OF STARLINK INFLIGHT INTERNET

Qatar Airways invited Simple Flying’s Tom Boon to test its new Starlink inflight connectivity.

According to Simple Flying, Starlink’s WiFi service on Qatar Airways is easy to use.

Passengers just need to connect to the network for access. There are no pop-up screens or redirects.

STARLINK’S SUPERFAST INTERNET SPEEDS

Boon also complimented the speed of the service, saying internet speed tests averaged around 150mbps download and about 50mbps upload.

It took only three minutes to download an entire three-hour-long movie with a size of 1.48 GB in high definition.

EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY

It was also possible to stream HD games in real-time and to conduct high-quality audio and video calls over the network. 

Boon made several WhatsApp calls during his flight.

He says that call quality was exceptional – even better than it would have been if the call had been made from terra firma!

QATAR AIRWAYS INVESTS IN STARLINK TECHNOLOGY

Qatar Airways has operated its first commercial passenger flight with Elon Musk’s Starlink technology.

The flight was operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft, equipped with South African-born Elon Musk’s, inflight internet service.

Fonearena says the airline plans to expand its Starlink-equipped fleet to include 12 Boeing 777-300s by the end of 2024.

Qatar Airways intends to equip its entire Boeing 777 fleet with Starlink technology by 2025.

SLOW RATE OF ADOPTION

Starlink technology is certainly adding value for airlines that can afford it.

As it is not cheap to implement, Starlink is slowly being introduced by larger airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines was the first major airline to launch Starlink this year.

What are your thoughts on inflight internet connectivity?

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