Wi-Fi provider · Low-orbit satellite

Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

Starlink connects aircraft to SpaceX’s low-orbit satellites rather than geostationary ones. SpaceX’s United case study quotes up to 250 Mbps and 44 ms latency.

Runs it: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), which builds and runs the Starlink low-orbit satellite network and sells it to airlines as Starlink Aviation.
Also known as: Starlink Aviation, SpaceX Starlink, Starlink Wi-Fi
Link: SpaceX’s Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, reached by an antenna on the aircraft roof.
Speed: SpaceX’s United case study says up to 250 Mbps. Alaska Airlines says up to 500 Mbps; British Airways cites 500+ Mbps from Ookla data.
Latency: SpaceX’s United case study gives 44 ms. Alaska Airlines says under 99 ms.
Sign-in page: Not published by Starlink. Each airline runs its own sign-in, often a loyalty-account login.

Checked 1 November 2026.

How it works

Low-orbit satellite

Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet network. Its satellites fly in low Earth orbit, far closer to the ground than the geostationary satellites behind most older in-flight Wi-Fi.

An antenna on the aircraft roof links to whichever Starlink satellites are overhead. Because the satellites move, the antenna hands over from one to the next as the flight goes on. The aircraft then shares the link with passengers over cabin Wi-Fi.

SpaceX says Starlink covers oceans and polar regions that cell towers and older systems missed. It describes United’s service as gate-to-gate.

SpaceX says an average Starlink installation on a United aircraft takes about 8 hours. It calls that roughly 10 times faster than non-Starlink equipment.

United, Hawaiian, Southwest, British Airways, Lufthansa Group and SAS say their Starlink Wi-Fi is free, often after a loyalty login. The airline, not SpaceX, runs that sign-in page and sets the rules.

Speeds and latency

SpaceX’s United case study gives speeds of up to 250 Mbps and 44 ms latency. Alaska Airlines quotes up to 500 Mbps and latency under 99 ms.

British Airways cites download speeds of 500+ Mbps, based on Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data from June 2025. Southwest calls it “the fastest WiFi in the sky”, citing Ookla data from early 2025.

The satellites orbit far lower than geostationary ones, which sit about 36,000 km up. A shorter path can reduce propagation delay. Actual latency and application performance vary by route, coverage and network load.

Passengers share the aircraft’s link. Actual speeds depend on network conditions and demand.

Airlines that use it

United AirlinesUnited StatesWi-Fi on United Airlines →Hawaiian AirlinesUnited StatesWi-Fi on Hawaiian Airlines →Alaska AirlinesUnited StatesWi-Fi on Alaska Airlines →Southwest AirlinesUnited StatesWi-Fi on Southwest Airlines →British AirwaysEuropeWi-Fi on British Airways →LufthansaEuropeWi-Fi on Lufthansa →Air FranceEuropeWi-Fi on Air France →Qatar AirwaysMiddle EastWi-Fi on Qatar Airways →

United Airlines and SAS use it too. Both say Starlink Wi-Fi is free with a loyalty login.

Signing in

Starlink doesn’t run a passenger portal. The airline’s own Wi-Fi page and sign-in decide who gets free access.

Turn on Wi-Fi and join the airline’s network.
Open a browser if the airline’s page doesn’t appear on its own.
Log in with your loyalty account where the airline asks for one, such as MileagePlus on United or Miles & More on Lufthansa.

SpaceX calls United’s service gate-to-gate, and Hawaiian says guests connect as soon as they board. Rules on streaming and devices are the airline’s.

Background

By September 2024 Hawaiian Airlines offered Starlink free on all its Airbus flights, including its 24 A330s. It planned to add its 787-9s but not its 717s.

United signed with SpaceX in August 2024. In October 2026 it said Starlink was on about 47% of its daily flights, with the whole fleet due before the end of 2027.

British Airways flew its first Starlink flight, a 787-8 to Houston, in March 2026. It expects all its aircraft, except BA Cityflyer, to have it within two years, free in every cabin.

Lufthansa Group’s first Starlink flight was LH234 from Frankfurt to Rome on 19 August 2026. It plans about 850 aircraft by 2029, free with Miles & More or Travel ID.

SAS finished fitting all 81 of its A320neo aircraft in September 2026. EuroBonus members use it free through SAS’s partnership with 3.

Southwest planned its first Starlink aircraft for summer 2026 and more than 300 by the end of 2026. Alaska Airlines plans Starlink across its fleet from 2026 to 2027.

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 Starlink Wi-Fi on planes free?

That’s the airline’s choice. United, Hawaiian, British Airways, Lufthansa Group and SAS all say it is free, sometimes only with a loyalty login.

Why is Starlink faster than older in-flight Wi-Fi?

Its satellites orbit far lower than the geostationary satellites about 36,000 km up. SpaceX’s United figures are up to 250 Mbps with 44 ms latency.

Sources

Checked on 1 November 2026.