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airBaltic selects SpaceX’s Starlink for onboard connectivity

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airBaltic is to connect its Airbus A220-300 fleet to the internet, with the airline selecting Starlink by SpaceX as its connectivity provider.

airBaltic Airbus A220-300 - Image, airBaltic
airBaltic Airbus A220-300 – Image, airBaltic

It marks the first win for SpaceX in Europe, after signing Hawaiian Airlines and JetX.

According to the airline, every passenger will benefit from complimentary, in-flight high-speed internet access during all airBaltic flights without hassles or login pages. The Skylink solution is a low-earth orbit constitution at an altitude of 550 km, over 65 times closer than conventional geostationary satellites, It provides lower latency and higher transmission speeds for its end users.  Starlink can deliver up to 350 Mbps to aircraft, and with latency as low as 20 ms, passengers can engage in activities previously not functional in flight, including online gaming, virtual private networks, and other high data rate activities.

In Quotes

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic said:

“This marks a historic moment for our airline and the industry as a whole. Soon airBaltic will become the first airline in Europe to launch high-speed, unlimited, and free-of-charge satellite internet on board. We are excited to further improve our service to our passengers who will soon benefit from this internet connectivity onboard our flights within the airBaltic network in Europe and beyond.”

“We are glad to have found the right connectivity provider – SpaceX’s Starlink – that fits our needs and meets our wishes. Having the most modern aircraft type on the market, it was the next logical step for airBaltic to implement the most modern available inflight internet solution on this fleet,” 

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Sales Jonathan Hofeller added:

“By becoming the first European airline to implement Starlink fleetwide, airBaltic is setting a new standard in ensuring its passengers have an internet experience that they have come to expect in our modern age,”

“With Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency internet, airBaltic passengers will have internet similar to or better than what they experience at home. Customers will walk on the plane and the internet will simply work, making the stress of login pages and downloading large files before takeoff a thing of the past.”

The hard work to deploy

airBaltic has a fleet of 38 Airbus A220-300 aircraft in its fleet. These will all need to be fitted out with a raydome as well additional modems and equipment.

airBaltic will work with SpaceX to achieve the required STC (supplemental type certification) approval and is expected to begin installing the product on the entire airBaltic Airbus A220-300 fleet this year.

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