Hawaiian Airlines to offer free in-flight Starlink connectivity | ZDNet

Hawaiian Airlines said on Monday it has come to an agreement for the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to offer Starlink connectivity to passengers from next year.

“We waited until technology caught up with our high standards for guest experience, but it will be worth the wait,” Hawaiian Airlines president and CEO Peter Ingram said.

“Our guests can look forward to fast, seamless and free Wi-Fi to complement our award-winning onboard Hawaiian hospitality.”

The service will be rolled out to the carrier’s Airbus A330 and A321neo fleet, and its new fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on flights to North America, Asia, and Oceania. It will not be offered on Boeing 717 flights between the Hawaiian islands.

It is expected installation in aircraft will begin next year.

Hawaiian Airlines said the service will be “seamless” and not have registration or payment pages to access.

Last week, SpaceX landed a $69.5 million deal with NASA as part of the agency’s move to using commercial satellite services.

Earlier in the year, Starlink announced its premium product which is slated to provide speeds up to 500Mbps for $500 a month, five times its standard fee for up to 200Mbps connectivity.

Elsewhere on Monday, Elon Musk has his $44 billion bid for Twitter accepted.

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