We've previously covered Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite-based internet service. The technology's proven useful to, among others, safeguard internet access to the population of Ukraine midst the ongoing war. Now we're seeing another application.
Jakob Holgersson
On April 25, Hawaiian Airlines announced an agreement with Starlink to provide internet on board their aircraft. The intention is that it eventually should be offered free of charge to all passengers during flights between the islands and the continental U.S, Asia and Oceania. The two companies expect to begin installing hardware on select aircraft at some point next year.
Starlink isn't the first service of this type, some airlines already offer in-flight wifi from vendors such as Viasat. Starlink's ace in the hole is that they have a larger quantity of satellites in a lower orbit. This in turn should yield higher speed and lower latency as well as better coverage.
“With Starlink, the inflight experience is greatly simplified so that once passengers step onboard the plane the internet works seamlessly throughout their flight. Soon, passengers will enjoy all the benefits of having the world’s best inflight internet connectivity from the comfort of their seats”, said SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller.
Rich Spuller
