Starlink Is Now Available on All Hawaiian Airlines Airbus Flights [CNET]

The in-flight Wi-Fi service is free for all passengers.

Hawaiian Airlines said this week that it’ll provide free Wi-Fi on all its Airbus-operated flights. 

The news comes just weeks after United Airlines said it would offer free Starlink internet service on more than 1,000 planes next year. Hawaiian Airlines is now the first major carrier to use Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, which taps more than 7,000 satellites in low earth orbit to deliver high-speed internet worldwide.  

“In Starlink’s low earth orbit constellation of advanced satellites, the latest of which utilize a revolutionary laser mesh network, we found an ideal solution to ensure reliable, high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi on transpacific flights,” a Hawaiian Airlines representative told CNET. 

“Working with Starlink has allowed us to offer a fast and consistent in-flight connectivity experience that meets our high standard for guest service.”

The company first debuted Starlink on its planes in February on a flight from Honolulu to Long Beach, California. It first struck a deal with Starlink in 2022 and has now completed installation across its entire Airbus fleet, which includes 24 A330 planes and 18 A321neos.

Read more: Trying to Get Wi-Fi on a Plane? Here’s Which Airlines Offer It for Free and Which Will Charge You

Hawaiian Airlines will also deploy the service on its two Boeing 787-9 planes, but not its Boeing 717 aircraft, which are used on shorter flights between the Hawaiian Islands. 

Starlink didn’t respond to a request for further comment.