Air France Embraces Starlink for Inflight Wi-Fi
Air France shared they will start offering free Starlink broadband on their planes next summer.
The airline, with over 200 aircraft, didn’t say exactly when each plane would get the new service.
Starlink will take over from current providers like Anuvu, Intelsat, and Panasonic Avionics, which use geostationary satellites.
Passengers can expect faster internet to play games, stream shows, and use other low-latency services thanks to Starlink’s closer orbiting satellites.
Competition has pushed existing providers to look at multi-orbit solutions, including LEO capacity from Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation.
Ground station issues have slowed OneWeb’s global service by about a year, now set for spring.
Air France noted some countries might limit Starlink access, but didn’t specify which ones.
Hawaiian Airlines, now part of Alaska Airlines, has started offering Starlink Wi-Fi on many transpacific flights, two and a half years after announcing their partnership with SpaceX.
These planes were previously without any Wi-Fi.
United Airlines also plans to switch from geostationary providers to Starlink for its fleet of over 1,000 planes next year.
We think this shift will make flying more fun and connected for everyone.
