Qatar Airways has hit another Starlink high-speed inflight Wi-Fi milestone with the news that it has now installed the broadband-quality internet service on more than 100 widebody aircraft – and it achieved this feat in just 13 months.
The Doha-based carrier now has the largest fleet of Starlink-equipped widebody aircraft in the world, and having operated more than 30,000 Starlink flights since October 2024, that’s a lot of passengers who have been able to experience super-fast gate-to-gate Wi-Fi.
Qatar Airways initially focused on installing Starlink on its Boeing 777 fleet, and after completing the retrofit program in April, the airline turned its attention to rolling out Starlink across its Airbus A350 fleet.
The airline has found that compared to traditional airplane Wi-Fi systems, installing the Starlink equipment is a remarkably fast process, with even massive aircraft like the Boeing 777-300 only remaining on the ground for less than a week before returning to service.
Qatar Airways says it has “accelerated” its Starlink Wi-Fi program, but the airline might soon have to pump the brakes as a roadblock quickly approaches.
The problem is that Starlink’s move into commercial aviation is still relatively new, and while the Elon Musk-controlled company has done a remarkable job at getting its tech certified for use on a wide range of aircraft, there are still some significant gaps.
While a growing number of airlines are choosing Starlink as free and fast in-flight Wi-Fi nears table-stakes status, what they aren’t telling you is that the service can’t physically be installed on some popular aircraft types until Starlink has secured a supplementary type certificate.
Qatar Airways operates three widebody aircraft types that are yet to be certified for Starlink:
- Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
- Airbus A380
According to Starlink, certification for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner isn’t expected until July 2026 at the very earliest, while certification for the Airbus A380 might not follow until the end of 2026.
There are other gaps in Starlink’s certifications that are likely to affect other airlines that have inked deals with the company.
Perhaps worst affected is United Airlines, which won’t be able to install Starlink on its Boeing 757s, 767s, 777-200ERs, 787 Dreamliners, and 737-900s until supplemental type certificates (STCs) have been acquired for all of these aircraft types.
British Airways could also face challenges with its Starlink rollout, expected to start next year, with its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Airbus A380s, Boeing 777-200ERs, Airbus A321ceos, and A319s unable to have Starlink installed until STCs have been approved.
The good news is that Starlink will, no doubt, be able to get STCs approved for all of these aircraft types; it just might take some time – especially for Boeing-designed aircraft, which have to be approved by the FAA.
Given the aftermath of the government shutdown will be felt for months to come, it remains to be seen whether Starlink’s certification timeline for Boeing aircraft has to be pushed back.
“Slowdown” (as one word) is a noun. So your headline is bad and annoying grammar. It’s like saying “…now things could baseball.” It makes no sense. Put a space between “slow” and “down” and suddenly “slow” becomes a verb and the headline would then be correct. I guess I’m the grammar police today (sorry) but it makes no sense the way it is.
Otherwise a good post, thanks.