Lufthansa Group Rolling Out Free Starlink Wi-Fi Throughout Airways, 850+ Planes

In latest instances, we’ve seen many airways announce plans to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi. There’s some excellent news for European aviation, as Lufthansa Group has revealed that it’s going on this route as properly…

Starlink coming to Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, and so forth.

Lufthansa Group has introduced plans to introduce free Starlink Wi-Fi throughout all planes on all member airways. So this consists of 850+ planes, together with these belonging to Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airways, ITA Airways, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Edelweiss, and so forth. Starlink might be free for all passengers who’ve a Miles & Extra Journey ID, which is free to register for.

Because it at the moment stands, Starlink is anticipated to be launched as of the second half of 2026, and the rollout needs to be full by some level in 2029. Nonetheless, the timeline past that is still a thriller, so we don’t know in what order airways and airplanes will get the brand new service.

Starlink is thought for its high-speed, low-latency broadband web, and the service might be provided gate to gate. Starlink Wi-Fi will permit for reside streaming, productiveness just like on the bottom (with excessive add and obtain speeds), gaming, e-commerce, and extra.

Starlink is changing into more and more fashionable with airways. Thus far we’ve seen carriers like airBaltic, Air France, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Emirates, Hawaiian Airways, Iberia, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, SAS, United, Virgin Atlantic, and WestJet, all announce plans to put in the service.

Right here’s how Lufthansa Group Chief Business Officer Dieter Vranckx describes this improvement:

“In our anniversary yr, by which we’re celebrating Lufthansa’s one hundredth birthday, we’ve determined to introduce a brand new high-speed web resolution from Starlink for all our airways. The Lufthansa Group is taking the following step and setting an important milestone for the premium journey expertise of our clients. Connectivity on board performs an essential position at present, and with Starlink, we aren’t solely investing in the most effective product available on the market, but additionally within the satisfaction of our passengers.”

That is nice information, however we’ll need to be affected person

Admittedly Lufthansa Group is the final of the “large three” European airline teams to announce plans to roll out Starlink Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, what makes Lufthansa Group particular right here is that the corporate is rolling out Starlink throughout all airways and fleets.

That’s totally different than Air France-KLM (the place it’s not deliberate for KLM or Transavia, as of now) or IAG (the place it’s not deliberate for Aer Lingus or Vueling, as of now). So it’s good to see that Lufthansa Group is planning this stage of consistency.

Admittedly a number of endurance might be required, because the rollout is anticipated to take over three years. My hope at the least is that Lufthansa Group works by every airline fairly shortly, to create some consistency.

One would assume the precedence would be the two “flagship” airways, Lufthansa and SWISS, since that’s the place the corporate is most hoping to compete amongst premium clients. On the similar time, these are additionally the airways that at the moment have the most effective Wi-Fi methods. In the meantime carriers like Brussels Airways don’t provide Wi-Fi in any respect, so are actually most in want of connectivity, but additionally don’t actually have premium positioning.

Backside line

Lufthansa Group has plans to roll out free Starlink Wi-Fi throughout airways, so that features Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels, ITA, Eurowings, Edelweiss, and so forth. The service might be launched as of the second half of 2026, with rollout anticipated to be accomplished by 2029.

Whereas Lufthansa Group is the final of the “large three” European carriers to announce Starlink plans, the corporate is exclusive for aspiring to introduce the service throughout all carriers.

What do you make of Lufthansa Group’s Starlink announcement?