Today, Qatar Airways operated its first commercial flight featuring Elon Musk’s Starlink internet. The airline invited Simple Flying to test out the new internet service, and I’m writing and publishing this article from 36,000 feet.
Internet connectivity onboard flights has improved greatly in recent years. However, it has still been expensive and slow for most users. Want to watch something on Disney+? Forget it! Now, this technology has taken another giant leap, as Elon Musk’s Starlink slowly rolls out with airlines. Hawaiian Airlines was the first to launch it earlier this year. Qatar Airways has operated its first Boeing 777 flight with the technology.
Photo: Coby Wayne / Shutterstock.com
WiFi that connects automatically
The first thing that surprised me about Starlink’s WiFi service on Qatar Airways is its ease of use. You know, the usual drill of having to log in on a pop-up window, perhaps having to pay to use the service (Qatar Airways charged $10 on my flight out), and sometimes having to reconnect.
This drama is gone with the Starlink service. Passengers simply need to connect to the network, and they already have access. As I had already connected to the OryxComms network the previous day, my phone automatically connected to the WiFi without realizing it.
Stream to your heart’s desire
For passengers, using the Starlink service is like using the WiFi at home—perhaps even better. At the time of writing, we’re one hour and 20 minutes into the flight, and internet speed tests have been averaging around 150mbps download and about 50mbps upload.
Photo: Speedtest.net
Of course, I tested the internet in ways that the average passenger would not. For example, I decided to download Titanic, a 03h16m film with a size of 1.48 GB. It took me just three minutes to download the entire movie in high definition. Now imagine trying to do that on a typical aircraft WiFi connection.
I was also able to stream HD games in real time using Nvidia Geforce Now, running on servers in Europe. The game was super responsive to my inputs as if I was playing it on my home WiFi.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Business travelers and home-sick explorers can conduct high-quality audio and video calls over the network. I had a video call on WhatsApp with somebody in Spain, and my video quality was even better than theirs. Many people I called couldn’t believe that I was at 36,000 feet until I pivoted the camera around to show the view outside the window. On a test flight, Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer even had a video call with Elon Musk in flight, entirely provided by the Starlink infrastructure.
Photo: Qatar Airways
There’s no doubt about it, this new technology, if widely adopted has the power to change onboard connectivity for the good. Later this year, airBaltic, among other carriers, is also expected to roll out the technology.
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