airBaltic has announced that it will equip all its aircraft with SpaceX’s Starlink internet.
Starlink internet
Latvian airline airBaltic will equip its entire fleet of Airbus A220-300 with SpaceX’s Starlink internet. Every passenger will have access to complimentary, in-flight “high-speed” internet access during all of the airline’s flights without hassles or login pages. From the moment passengers walk onto the plane, they’ll have access to the internet. This is particularly a great feature about airBaltic’s Wi-Fi as some airlines restrict the use of Wi-Fi above a certain altitude. Also, there will no login pages so that’s also great as some passengers flying on airlines which offer Wi-Fi face login issues and can’t connect to Wi-Fi at all.
This marks a historic moment for our airline and the industry as a whole. Soon airBaltic will become the first airline in Europe to launch high-speed, unlimited, and free-of-charge satellite internet on board. We are excited to further improve our service to our passengers who will soon benefit from this internet connectivity onboard our flights within the airBaltic network in Europe and beyond. We are glad to have found the right connectivity provider – SpaceX’s Starlink – that fits our needs and meets our wishes. Having the most modern aircraft type on the market, it was the next logical step for airBaltic to implement the most modern available inflight internet solution on this fleet,
said Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer, airBaltic.
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Developed by SpaceX, Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet in over 40 countries. Starlink began serving commercial aircraft last year with in-flight high-speed internet. With satellites positioned in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers, over 65 times closer than conventional geostationary satellites, Starlink achieves significantly lower latency and higher transmission speeds for its end users. Starlink can deliver up to 350 Mbps to aircraft, and with latency as low as 20 ms, passengers can engage in activities previously not functional in flight, including online gaming, virtual private networks, and other high data rate activities.
By becoming the first European airline to implement Starlink fleetwide, airBaltic is setting a new standard in ensuring its passengers have an internet experience that they have come to expect in our modern age. With Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency internet, airBaltic passengers will have internet similar to or better than what they experience at home. Customers will walk on the plane and the internet will simply work, making the stress of login pages and downloading large files before takeoff a thing of the past.
said Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX Vice President of Starlink – Sales.
The Riga-based carrier will work with SpaceX to achieve the required STC (supplemental type certification) approval and is expected to begin installing the product on the entire airBaltic Airbus A220-300 fleet this year.
This is great
airBaltic’s partnership with Starlink seems to be great. First of all, passengers generally need to pay to access Wi-Fi. The fact that the airline is offering this as a complimentary feature to all its passengers is generous.
Secondly, if the speed of Wi-Fi inflight matches to that which is being marketed by Starlink, this has to be the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky. Also, as mentioned before, the fact that there will no login pages and also that passengers will be able to access the Wi-Fi as soon as they step onboard is great. It seems that airBaltic has put a lot of thought in thinking how to keep passengers connected to the outside world when they are in the air.
Featured image by airBaltic
What do you think of airBaltic’s partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink? Let me know in the comments section below.
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