--- title: "European Aviation Network Wi-Fi: how it works, speeds and airlines" url: "https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/european-aviation-network" description: "How the European Aviation Network works: a Viasat S-band satellite plus Deutsche Telekom LTE ground towers, for short-haul flights in Europe, and who uses it." --- Wi-Fi provider · Geostationary satellite · Air-to-ground towers # European Aviation Network Wi-Fi The European Aviation Network combines a Viasat S-band satellite with Deutsche Telekom’s LTE ground towers for short-haul flights in Europe. Viasat says it is proven on more than 300 aircraft. Runs it Run by Viasat with Deutsche Telekom. Inmarsat built it with Deutsche Telekom; Viasat took over Inmarsat’s part when it bought Inmarsat in May 2023. It was still offered in 2026. Also known as EAN, Inmarsat EAN, Viasat EAN Link Hybrid: a geostationary S-band satellite plus about 300 LTE ground sites run by Deutsche Telekom. Speed Not published as a figure. Deutsche Telekom has called it Europe’s fastest in-flight broadband. Latency Not published as a figure. Deutsche Telekom says it has lower latency than other in-flight Wi-Fi in Europe. Sign-in page Not published. Each airline runs its own sign-in page. **Checked 1 November 2026.** ## How it works Geostationary satellite Air-to-ground towers The European Aviation Network, or EAN, is built for short-haul flights within Europe. Viasat describes it as a low-cost system for smaller aircraft. It has two halves. A Viasat S-band satellite in geostationary orbit covers the whole of Europe. A ground network run by Deutsche Telekom adds capacity where the aircraft is over land or near it. The ground network is based on LTE, the 4G mobile standard. Deutsche Telekom says it has about 300 antenna sites across Europe. Viasat says each mast has three sectors for added capacity. Aircraft carry small antennas for both links. Lufthansa Group says the system weighs under 60 kg, which keeps extra fuel burn down. Deutsche Telekom added eight sites around the North Sea in 2022 with Tampnet, including platforms and wind farms. That extends ground coverage over water. ## Speeds and latency Neither Viasat nor Deutsche Telekom publishes a speed figure for EAN. Deutsche Telekom calls it the fastest in-flight broadband on the continent. EAN combines a ground network with satellite coverage. The ground component has a shorter radio path than a geostationary satellite link. A geostationary satellite path is much longer than a tower link. The ITU estimates about 500 ms of round-trip propagation delay for a geostationary satellite. Actual EAN routing and latency vary. ## Airlines that use it - [Lufthansa](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/lufthansa): Europe - [British Airways](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/british-airways): Europe Viasat and Deutsche Telekom also name Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, AEGEAN, SWISS and Austrian Airlines. ## Signing in Neither Viasat nor Deutsche Telekom publishes passenger sign-in steps or a portal address. Use the network and sign-in page your airline names on board. ## Background IAG was the first EAN customer, announced in March 2017, with British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus. IAG planned to equip more than 300 aircraft. By March 2022, Deutsche Telekom said EAN was on more than 265 aircraft. That included British Airways’ entire short-haul fleet, with Iberia and Vueling still rolling it out. In January 2024 Lufthansa Group chose EAN for more than 150 more A220 and A320-family aircraft at Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines. Installation was to take about two years from late 2024. EAN is still running. In April 2026 Viasat said Vueling had offered free, ad-sponsored Wi-Fi on EAN since October 2025, across more than 80 A320s. Some EAN airlines are now adding Starlink. British Airways and Lufthansa Group both announced fleet-wide Starlink plans in 2026, so EAN may leave those fleets over time. ## 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.** Expect pings of 600 ms or more on a geostationary link. That is the distance to the satellite, not your Mac. Health shows latency and loss, and with Pro their history through the flight. When Slack or Zoom won’t load, [Is it them or me?](https://kilobat.app/is-it-down) reads the service’s status page. More in [what to do before you board](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi#before-you-board). [Download for Mac ↓](https://kilobat.app/downloads/Kilobat-1.31.1.dmg?via=site) ``` brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat ``` ## Questions **Is the European Aviation Network still running?** Yes. Viasat still offers it, and in April 2026 said Vueling runs free Wi-Fi on it across more than 80 aircraft. **Why does EAN Wi-Fi sometimes feel quicker than satellite Wi-Fi?** EAN combines Deutsche Telekom’s ground network with a satellite. Actual routing and latency depend on coverage and network conditions. ## Sources - [Viasat: European Aviation Network](https://www.viasat.com/aviation/commercial-aviation/in-flight-connectivity/ean/) - [Viasat: EAN, built for Europe](https://www.viasat.com/aviation/commercial-aviation/in-flight-connectivity/ean/built-for-europe/) - [Viasat: Vueling free Wi-Fi on EAN (April 2026)](https://www.viasat.com/news/latest-news/aviation/2026/viasat-and-vueling-enhance-customer-satisfaction-with-new-free--/) - [Deutsche Telekom: IAG first customer for European Aviation Network (March 2017)](https://www.telekom.com/en/newsroom/latest-updates/news/2017/3/iag-first-customer-for-european-aviation-network) - [Deutsche Telekom: European Aviation Network’s third anniversary (March 2022)](https://www.telekom.com/en/newsroom/latest-updates/media-information/2022/3/european-aviation-network-celebrates-birthday) - [Deutsche Telekom: European Aviation Network boosts connectivity in the North Sea (2022)](https://wholesale.telekom.com/newsroom/news/detail/european-aviation-network-boosts-connectivity-in-the-north-sea) - [Lufthansa Group: more than 150 additional short and medium-haul aircraft with broadband (January 2024)](https://newsroom.lufthansagroup.com/en/lufthansa-group-equips-more-than-150-additional-short-and-medium-haul-aircraft-with-broadband-internet-access/) - [Viasat: Viasat’s 2024 accomplishments](https://www.viasat.com/perspectives/corporate/2024/viasats-2024-accomplishments-a-look-back/) - [ITU: Satellite system integration and propagation delay](https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-M.2460-2019-PDF-E.pdf) Checked on 1 November 2026. ## Other providers - [Viasat](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/viasat): GEO satellite - [Starlink](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/starlink-aviation): LEO satellite - [Panasonic Avionics](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/panasonic-avionics): GEO satellite, LEO satellite - [SES](https://kilobat.app/in-flight-wifi/intelsat): GEO satellite, LEO satellite