Airline · Middle East

Emirates Wi-Fi

Emirates is fitting Starlink across its fleet, and Starlink Wi-Fi is free for every passenger on equipped flights. Emirates also describes an OnAir Wi-Fi network, with paid plans and free Skywards tiers.

Provider: Starlink, SITA OnAir
Network: See connection instructions below; the network name may depend on the aircraft.
Free: Starlink Wi-Fi is free for everyone in every cabin on Starlink-equipped aircraft.

Checked 1 November 2026. Prices and policies as of November 2026.

Who provides it

Starlink
Being fitted across the whole in-service fleet of 232 Boeing 777s and A380s, due to finish by mid-2027. In July 2026 it was on 33 Boeing 777s and three A380s.
SITA OnAir
Emirates describes an OnAir sign-in network and directs paid Wi-Fi refund requests to SITA OnAir.

What’s free

Starlink Wi-Fi is free for everyone in every cabin on Starlink-equipped aircraft. Emirates says it needs one click, with no payment and no Skywards membership.
On the older Wi-Fi, Emirates Skywards members in First and Business Class get free internet for the whole flight. Skywards Platinum members get it free in any cabin.
Skywards Blue, Silver and Gold members in Premium Economy and Economy get free unlimited chat, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Skywards members must add their membership number to the booking before the flight, in the Emirates App or Manage your booking. Emirates excludes Skywards Skysurfers from its Skywards and paid Wi-Fi plan terms.

As of November 2026.

Prices

Plan	Price
Unlimited chat, whole flight (text-only)	USD 2.99 to USD 5.99, depending on flight length
Wi-Fi internet, whole flight	USD 9.99 to USD 19.99, depending on flight length
Easy connect, 30 minutes with no data limit (selected regions)	USD 9.99

These plans are for aircraft without Starlink. Emirates says prices may vary on some routes and can change. The chat plan covers WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Line and Viber.

As of November 2026.

Streaming and calls

Emirates says Starlink lets you stream, game and make video calls on board. It also offers live TV over Starlink on your own device. On the older Wi-Fi, media streaming and some sync services are restricted because of limited bandwidth.

VPNs

Emirates doesn’t publish a VPN rule for either service.

Which planes have it

Emirates says Wi-Fi is available across its fleet but can’t be guaranteed. Starlink is going onto the 777 and A380 fleets at about 14 aircraft a month. Emirates said in July 2026 that over 60 Starlink flights operate each day. The A380 has three Starlink antennas and the 777 has two. Regulations mean Wi-Fi isn’t offered over every country.

How to connect

These steps are for the older Wi-Fi, from Emirates’ Wi-Fi page. Emirates doesn’t publish step-by-step instructions or a network name for Starlink.

After take-off, connect to the OnAir Wi-Fi network.
If you’re a Skywards member, log in with the date of birth on your Skywards profile and the seat number on your boarding pass.
Choose a Wi-Fi plan.
Pay online with a debit or credit card.

If you paid for Wi-Fi and it didn’t work, Emirates says to ask SITA OnAir for a refund at cs@sita.aero. Your purchase confirmation email explains how.

On board with Kilobat

Kilobat is a Mac menu-bar app that shows what each app sends and holds back what can wait. On a plane:

The sign-in page. When it doesn’t open by itself, the menu bar says This Wi-Fi wants you to sign in, with Open sign-in page. Turn your VPN on after you’ve signed in.
Mark it metered. macOS treats plane Wi-Fi as unlimited. Mark it Metered in Kilobat’s Wi-Fi menu or with kilobat networks cost metered, and Kilobat skips its own speed tests. If automatic switching is enabled, it switches to Travel.
Updates wait. With Pro, paused updaters enabled and the network filter on, macOS Software Update, App Store downloads, Google Updater and Microsoft AutoUpdate wait for an unmetered network. The apps keep working.
See what’s using it. Every app’s upload and download, live in the menu bar, so a messaging-only plan isn’t spent on a sync you forgot.
Send later. A big upload, such as Dropbox syncing a folder, shows as a row with its speed. With Pro, Send later can hold it until you’re on unmetered Wi-Fi again, for up to eight hours while Kilobat is open.
Know what’s slow. Health shows latency and loss, and with Pro their history through the flight. Those measurements can help you investigate a slow connection. When Slack or Zoom won’t load, Is it them or me? reads the service’s status page.

Questions

Is Emirates Wi-Fi free?

Yes on Starlink-equipped aircraft, for every passenger. On other aircraft it’s free for Skywards members in First and Business Class and for Platinum members, with free chat for other members.

Which Emirates planes have Starlink?

Emirates said in July 2026 that 33 Boeing 777s and three A380s had it. It plans to equip all 232 in-service aircraft by mid-2027.

Sources

Checked on 1 November 2026.