Lufthansa Group has announced that Starlink high-speed wifi will be introduced on its first flight from next week.
The aviation giant revealed in January that it had struck a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company to fit 850 aircraft with the internet service across all of the group’s airlines.
In a statement, the company said that Starlink wifi would be available for the first time on a Lufthansa-operated Airbus A320neo aircraft on 19 August.
Starlink will then be rolled out across the fleets of Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, before being introduced at other group airlines, including ITA Airways, Lufthansa City Airlines and Eurowings. Lufthansa said the service would be fitted on all airlines’ fleets by 2029.
Dieter Vranckx, chief commercial officer of the Lufthansa Group, said: “We’re making high-speed internet an integral part of the travel experience — across all travel classes and on all Lufthansa Group airlines: that is how we understand premium.”
The group is making Starlink internet available at no charge for all Lufthansa Group Miles & More loyalty programme members and Travel ID users.
Several other major airline groups have also announced plans to introduce Starlink internet onboard their aircraft, including IAG, Air France, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and SAS. Italian rail operator Italo has also struck a deal with Starlink.