Air France begins installing Starlink Wi-Fi on planes in 2025

Air France will become the latest major airline to offer free Starlink Wi-Fi.

The Paris-based airline announced Thursday that it will begin installing Starlink satellite Internet service on its jets next year. Wi-Fi service will be free for all customers; all that’s needed is a Flying Blue frequent flyer account, which anyone can sign up for.

Starlink will be available on Air France’s main and regional fleets. The airline did not announce a timeline for when Starlink installation will be complete, but it said its current paid Wi-Fi service will remain available until Starlink is installed.

Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, provides satellite Internet access in more than 100 countries worldwide. While the company’s customers range from individual households to the US military, perhaps the most exciting development for travelers is Starlink’s deployment on commercial aircraft.

Air France will become the largest airline yet to partner with Starlink, bringing some serious upgrades to the in-flight connectivity experience, especially for Air France, which already has wireless connectivity options. Regularly for long-haul flights. Starlink offers download speeds of up to 350 megabits per second — fast enough to support gaming, VPN access, streaming and more.

I recently tested Starlink’s blazing speeds on one demonstration flight from public jet service JSX. Although JSX is not a traditional airline like United Airlines, it offers free Starlink Wi-Fi on its fleet of 30-seat Embraer regional jets.

JSX is the first service provider to install Starlink Wi-Fi, and based on my testing during a demo flight, the service has a lot of potential in the aviation industry.

I had no trouble streaming content, participating in Zoom meetings, and even downloading music on five devices simultaneously. Real-world download speeds max out at 100 megabits per second, and low latency means I don’t need to worry about stuttering while watching movies and TV shows.

In addition to Air France, Starlink has been installed or is being installed on eight carriers worldwide. These include United AirlinesJSX, Hawaiian Airlines, airBaltic, Zipair, Qatar AirwaysAir New Zealand and WestJet. In fact, just this week, Hawaiian Airlines announced that it has completed the installation of Starlink on its Airbus fleet.

As fast in-flight Internet access becomes an amenity that passengers expect, hopefully we will see more service providers partnering with Starlink. After all, this is the fastest, most reliable satellite internet provider I’ve tested on all my trips.

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