Hawaiian Airlines to offer free Wi-Fi.
Hawaiian Airlines has announced it will offer free Wi-Fi on flights across the Pacific, including to the continental US, Asia and Australia, through SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system.
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.
However, it will not be offered on Boeing 717 flights between the Hawaiian islands.
“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.”
Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has a network of about 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers and businesses anywhere on the planet.
The company has been in talks with various airlines for months to provide the in-flight internet service as it seeks to expand its reach beyond providing households in rural areas of the globe with little to no internet access.
The installation of Starlink terminals, also known as antennas, is expected to start next year on Hawaiian planes.
“Historically, we’ve looked at our market and not seen great options over the Pacific. We actually don’t have any connectivity on our fleet today,” Avi Mannis, Hawaiian’s chief marketing officer, told CNBC.
“The options have been improving over time, but we have waited until there was a product offering … that we thought would live up to the expectations of our guests.”
According to reports, Delta Air Lines has also held talks with Starlink and is conducting exploratory tests of its technology.
Last week, SpaceX landed a $69.5 million deal with NASA as part of the agency’s move to using commercial satellite services.
Elsewhere on Monday, Elon Musk had his $44 billion bid for Twitter accepted.
[adblockingdetector id="638efa67113bf"]