Badr Al Meer, CEO of Qatar Airways Group (middle) and Saad bin Ali Al Kharji, Chairman of Qatar Tourism Board (left) on the plane Talking to Elon Musk (right) through Starlink.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways launches service on Tuesday Its first Boeing 777 flight is equipped with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet, paving the way for the entire fleet to enter a new era of in-flight connectivity next year.
To demonstrate the milestone, Qatar Airways CEO Badr Al Meer held a video call with Starlink founder Musk while flying at 35,000 feet from Doha to London.
“We’re actually just talking through Starlink right now — that’s cool,” Musk said on the phone from his home in a video shot and released by Qatar Airways. “It’s Starlink across the satellite laser link all the way to your aircraft.”
Qatar Airways’ move to introduce free high-speed internet across its fleet is a direct challenge to rival airlines, which typically offer slower and often incomplete paid services or offer restricted Wi-Fi to the flying public. -Fi access.
“It’s going to get better. We’re launching new satellites and we’re constantly improving the software. As time goes on, I think you’re going to see that it’s getting better and better,” Musk said during a video tour of his cockpit at Almere Said before.
“Think of this as a minimum. Things only get better from here.
Qatar’s state-owned airline plans to deliver 12 Boeing 777-300 aircraft equipped with the service by the end of 2024, covering its entire Boeing 777 fleet in 2025 and its Airbus A350 fleet in the summer of 2025.
First in the region
Starlink operates as a satellite internet constellation, providing high-speed, low-latency internet via approximately 6,000 satellites, allowing passengers to stream video, send messages and hold calls over Wi-Fi across multiple devices. Qatar Airways is undergoing a major strategic overhaul under new leadership, adding that the service will be free and will operate from every gate.
The Gulf airline said in a company statement that it will become the first airline in the Middle East and North Africa to offer Starlink wireless internet to passengers. But it’s certainly not the only target – in early October, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran told CNBC that reliable, fast Wi-Fi on full-service airlines will become “ubiquitous” as airlines compete to provide enhanced services to passengers.
Air New Zealand announced at the end of 2023 that it would launch Starlink on its two domestic aircraft by the end of 2024.
competition intensifies
Qatar Airways told CNBC in March it was developing a First-class concept and seeking aircraft orders from aviation giants Boeing and Airbus as part of its “Qatar Air 2.0” strategic reform.
Meanwhile, new data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed that global passenger demand continued to surge in August, growing 8.6% compared with August 2023.
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