After signing deals with the likes of Air France and United Airlines, Starlink is about to expand into the world of in-flight Wi-Fi even more. This latest development involves two international airlines that are both part of the Oneworld network: British Airways and Iberia. This week, both airlines announced partnerships with the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company to make Starlink’s Wi-Fi available to passengers, with the rollout set to begin in 2026.
Both airlines tout this new partnership as part of a larger effort to improve their overall service. British Airways noted that the Starlink deal should be viewed in the context of a larger effort to invest $7 billion in service improvements, which was announced last year. Not to be outdone, Iberia announced earlier this year that it planned to make a host of upgrades to its service between now and 2030, of which the Starlink arrangement is one example.
Starlink isn’t available on either airline yet, but it is in place on some United flights. How has that worked out? In an article for Tom’s Guide published last month, Mark Knapp tested the speed of the in-flight Wi-Fi in the air. He observed connection speeds of “between 150 and 297Mbps,” results he dubbed “good for free Wi-Fi just about anywhere, let alone on a plane cruising 30,000 feet in the air.”
With a few exceptions, travelers on a Reddit thread that was started earlier this year had good things to say about Starlink’s service on board their flights. The travelers posting discussed their experience with the company’s internet connections on both United and Qatar Airways, which also partnered with Starlink, as well as on cruise ships traveling across the ocean. While some posts expressed frustration with the service, the majority seemed satisfied with Starlink, something that bodes well for British Airways and Iberia passengers in the very near future.
