Qatar Airways became only the fifth airline in the world to pen a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet company in October 2023, but after waiting 12 months to start installing the Wi-Fi service, the Doha-based airline is now in a race with regional rival Emirates to equip its planes with the equipment.
Qatar Airways progresses Starlink rollout
Qatar Airways does, at least, have a healthy head start on Emirates, which only started its own rollout last November, although it’s clear that the carrier’s competitive advantage could quickly be challenged as more and more airlines take the view that fast and free inflight Wi-Fi is table stakes.
The rollout began with Qatar Airways choosing to install Starlink Wi-Fi across its Boeing 777 fleet, a job that was completed even faster than initially planned when the airline managed to slash installation time from two to three days to less than 10 hours.
All of Qatar’s Boeing 777s had Starlink installed in just six months, and then the airline moved on to retrofitting its Airbus A350 aircraft with the service: this rollout was completed in December 2025, with 120 airplanes in the Qatar Airways fleet now equipped with superfast Wi-Fi.
Qatar Airways has now moved into retrofitting its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet with Starlink Wi-Fi, starting with the smaller 787-8 model. Three of these aircraft have already had Starlink installed, with more to follow in the weeks ahead.
Once Qatar Airways has completed the Starlink rollout on its 787 Dreamliner fleet, the airline intends to move on to other aircraft types, including its single-aisle airplanes and its Airbus A380 superjumbos.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX program that provides high-speed broadband service via a ‘constellation’ of more than 6,750 satellites in low Earth orbit, boasting speeds of up to 500 megabits per second.
Live streaming and video gaming at 38,000 feet are easily achievable, according to Starlink.
Starlink has near-global coverage and is authorized for use over all international waters. Coverage over local territorial waters and in motion over land is, however, reliant on approvals from local governments.
Airlines say the Starlink equipment can be installed on airplanes in about half the time of rival products, allowing fast retrofits with minimum downtime.
Unlike many Wi-Fi products previously used by airlines, Starlink usually pens deals that require free, one-click access on multiple devices.
What other airlines have chosen Starlink?
The list of airlines opting to install Starlink is starting to grow and currently includes:
- United Airlines
- Air France
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Korean Air
- SAS
- Westjet
- Air Baltic
- Emirates
- Flydubai
- British Airways
- Iberia
- Aer Lingus
- Vueling
The progress with which these airlines are progressing their Starlink installations, although of most concern to Qatar Airways, will be the very ambitious rollout schedule announced by its rival, Emirates.
The Dubai-based carrier only announced it had inked a deal with Starlink last November, and by that point, the rollout had already begun. Emirates says it plans to have retrofitted its entire fleet with Starlink in the space of just two years.
Installations of Starlink on Emirates’ massive fleet of Airbus A380s is slated to start next month.
Amazon’s rival satellite Wi-Fi service currently has one customer
Starlink faces competition from a rival satellite internet service from Amazon, which was originally known as Project Kuiper but was recently renamed as Amazon Leo.
Amazon Leo works in much the same way as Starlink, with its own constellation of low-earth orbit satellites, but after a series of embarrassing delays, it might not be until 2027 that Amazon has launched enough satellites to switch on the service.
Given these delays, Amazon Leo has struggled to acquire airline customers. So far, only JetBlue has confirmed it will use Amazon Leo when it eventually launches, although American Airlines has also been in talks with the Jeff Bezos-owned company.
