Lufthansa debuts Starlink wi-fi on first A320neo, plans 850 aircraft retrofit by 2029
German airline group is installing the SpaceX in-flight wi-fi service on all of its carriers' aircraft. Lufthansa Group has installed SpaceX's Starlink in-flight wi-fi service on its first aircraft, kicking off a programme that will see 850 jets operated by all of its airlines equipped with the system by 2029. The first aircraft to feature the low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based system, a Lufthansa mainline Airbus A320neo (D-AINM), entered service on 19 August after undergoing installation by Lufthansa Technik in Berlin. The inaugural flight featuring the service was between Frankfurt and Rome. A further 10 Lufthansa and Lufthansa City A320-family aircraft will have the system installed by the end of this year, says the carrier. Installations will also take place at Lufthansa Technik’s facilities in Budapest and Sofia, and are being timed to coincide with scheduled downtime for technical checks. The system is being retrofitted to existing aircraft and will be added as a linefit solution to future aircraft ahead of delivery, says Lufthansa. The German airline group aims to install Starlink on 850 aircraft across all of its carriers – Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Edelweiss, Discover Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Lufthansa City Airlines and Eurowings – over the next three years. Installations on the other carriers will begin “soon”, says the group. Starlink uses a network of LEO satellites to provide low-latency global coverage, including across polar regions. Lufthansa claims that passengers will experience "an internet bandwidth above the clouds that, in many cases, is faster than their internet connection at home or in the office". The group will provide the wi-fi service free-of charge for members of its Miles & More frequent flyer programme and for users of its Travel ID service. Lufthansa tells FlightGlobal that wi-fi access will remain free to use in the future, noting that “any customer can register” for Travel ID “for free, in an easy process, even during the flight”. The connectivity service, which will be branded as Lufthansa Group Wi-Fi, is sponsored by Mastercard. The credit card company also sponsored the carrier's previous FlyNet in-flight wi-fi service, which was provided by Deutsche Telekom and Viasat. Lufthansa Group’s Discovery unit had also previously selected Panasonic Avionics’ multi-orbit connectivity service for its Airbus A330s. Satellite wi-fi competition heats up Lufthansa announced at the beginning of this year that it was switching to Starlink as its connectivity provider across its entire fleet, dealing the latest blow to the geostationary satellite market. SpaceX through its Starlink service and Amazon with its own Leo-branded in-flight connectivity offering have been taking market share from incumbent satellite providers , which have begun offering multi-orbit services to airlines in response. Other European airlines to have selected Starlink include IAG – with Spanish unit Vueling set to become "the first low-cost carrier in Europe" to offer the service when it is installed on its incoming Boeing 737 Max jets, according to the airline group – Air Baltic, Wizz Air and Virgin Atlantic. The service is also proving popular in North America, having been selected by Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines , Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines , WestJet and charter carrier JSX. Last month, Frontier Airlines also announced that it would install Starlink on its entire fleet , as part of a programme that will see five Indigo Partners-backed carriers equip more than 1,000 aircraft with the system. Amazon's Leo service, meanwhile, counts Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways among its customers.