Are we witnessing the beginning of a new area of competition for the airline industry? Earlier this month, United shared some news: it would be phasing in free in-flight wifi from Starlink beginning in 2025. As it turns out, United wasn’t the only airline turning to the satellite-based internet carrier to help passengers get online when they need to be connected mid-flight. Air France will also be working with Starlink on its flights, beginning next year.
According to the airline’s announcement, Air France will begin adding Starlink service to its flights, regional aircraft included, in the Summer of 2025. There’s one twist, though: in order to access the wifi network, travelers will need to be logged in to their Flying Blue (Air France and KLM’s loyalty program) account.
Much like United, Starlink’s wifi will be free to all passengers, as long as they have a Flying Blue account. That said, the airline’s announcement does note that “[r]estrictions may apply when flying over certain countries.” Starlink’s conflicts with regulators in different countries has led to some modifications of the service; how this will translate to a passenger experience remains to be seen.
United Teams With Starlink for Free In-Flight Wifi
Testing is set to begin in 2025As United and Air France begin relying on Starlink for their in-flight internet service, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on how much this ends up saving airlines relative to the costs of maintaining their own wireless connections. It’ll also be worth monitoring how airlines using Starlink will deal with service issues — will Starlink be responsible for that as well, or will the airlines maintain some level of customer service? The ramifications are worth exploring.
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