It seems that Qatar Airways has found a new partner to supply in-flight connectivity – with them wishing to partner with SpaceX’s Starlink.
This will be the largest Starlink aviation connectivity deal to date, with Qatar Airways aiming to roll out a complimentary high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity experience onboard specific aircraft and routes.
No quantity of aircraft to be fitted was announced at this time
Once the service is active, passengers will be able to enjoy ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds of up to 350 Megabits per second which can be used for a variety of internet-based services such as video streaming their favourite entertainment and sports videos, gaming, enriched web-browsing and much more.
Access is planned to be a one-click to enable connectivity in flight for ease of use.
Qatar Airways and Starlink are in the pre-launch phase of the rollout strategy across the Qatar Airways fleet.
In Quotes
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, said:
“Qatar Airways is proud to announce its agreement with Starlink to provide seamless and complimentary Wi-Fi to its global passengers. This exciting collaboration is not only in line with our industry-leading approach to technological adoption, but also serves as an unmissable opportunity to connect Starlink to our global passengers. We look forward to our passengers benefitting from this state-of-the-art addition to Qatar Airways’ in-flight experience.”
SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller, added:
“Qatar Airways continues to lead the way prioritizing the passenger experience,”
“With Starlink set to support the entire Qatar Airways fleet, passengers travelling between over 160 destinations around the world will be able to stay connected with the most advance high-speed internet service from space. In fact, as soon as passengers step onboard the plane the internet works seamlessly throughout their flight from gate to gate, and all from the comfort of their seats.”
Starlinks growing aviation footprint
As well as the home and marine applications, Starlink has been making progressive inroads into aviation. Current aviation customers in the queue for Starlink connectivity include JSX, Hawaiian Airlines, airBaltic, and ZIPAIR.
The work goes on as Starlink works to certify its connectivity solution for aviation (and as we all know, it’s a little more complex than bolting an antenna to an aircraft) – there is work that goes on including the critical safety systems, aerodynamics, and in the implementation of an electronically steerable antenna – then we have the modem on the inside of the aircraft, distributing to the wireless access points.
All of this and more has to be qualified as safe for use in aviation.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this – the battle for Low Earth Orbit connectivity is shaping up to be an interesting one, with other providers such as OneWeb edging in on commercially deployable solutions, whilst Amazon’s Project Kuiper edging towards its testing phase.
It’s an interesting time – to say the least.
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