Qatar – Qatar Airways on Tuesday said all its wide-body aircraft will have Starlink’s high-speed internet on board by end of this year, according to its top official.“By the end of this year, Starlink will be installed on all our wide bodies,” Qatar Airways Group chief executive officer Badr Mohammed al-Meer said on the penultimate day of the Web Summit Qatar 2025.
As of today, Qatar’s national carrier has implemented on 50% of its 777 fleet, which is 30 aircraft, he said at a dedicated session: Redefining aviation: How Qatar Airways sets the benchmark.
This achievement comes four months after the airline launched the world’s first Boeing 777 Starlink-enabled flight and two months after surpassing its initial 2024 target of 12 installations by upgrading 15 aircraft with Starlink connectivity.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX.
Qatar Airways, according to him, has accelerated Starlink rollout, cutting installation time per aircraft from two-and-half to three days to mere 9.5 hours, reducing the retrofit by nearly three-quarters of the initial timeline. The national carrier is simplifying a complex process by replacing existing systems and installing new ones at record speed while maintaining the highest safety standards—achieving efficiency beyond the standard installation process.
“Our plan was to have 50 aircraft by May of this year. I’m sure we will exceed this number,” he said, adding it is working very closely with Boeing and Airbus and Starlink teams.
Citing that there was no certification to install Starlink on Airbus 350 or Boeing 787; al-Meer said the discussions were ongoing for months and for almost two or three years among the stakeholders such as SpaceX, Boeing and Airbus.
“However, once we got involved, we managed to get everybody on the table. We agreed on a solution. And we will be the first airline to install a Starlink on our Dreamliner 787 and our Airbus 350 fleet,” he said.
“We are delivering on our commitment to provide our passengers the best in-flight connectivity at an unprecedented pace. In just four months since launching the world’s first Boeing 777 Starlink-equipped flight, we have already installed this ground-breaking service on 30 aircraft—far exceeding our initial targets.
This reflects the commendable efficiency and dedication of our team. Starlink Wi-Fi is a game-changer for our passengers who will soon enjoy uninterrupted connectivity on even more routes,” he said.
With one of the fastest and most ambitious Starlink rollouts in the industry, Qatar Airways is setting new standards for in-flight connectivity by keeping passengers connected wherever they fly.
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