Qatar Airways Debuts World’s First Boeing 777 Starlink Flight: A Call With Elon Musk

Qatar Airways has launched its first Boeing 777 aircraft with Starlink internet, a breakthrough in in-flight wi-fi commemorated via a special onboard phone call with Elon Musk.

Qatar Airways Debuts Starlink On 777 With Elon Musk Phone Call

On October 22, 2024, Qatar Airways became the first carrier to offer a commercial flight on a Boeing 777 aircraft equipped with Starlink. The 777-300ER flew from Doha (DOH) to London (LHR).

Starlink is a satellite internet service that provides high-speed broadband internet to remote and rural areas using a low Earth orbit, here an airplane traveling at 35,000 feet. It’s a division of SpaceX, a private spaceflight company founded by Elon Musk.

The 777 represents the largest aircraft equipped with Starlink. Qatar Airways plans to retrofit its entire 777 fleet with Starlink by mid-2025, with 12 777-300s by the end of 2024. By the summer of 2025, the rollout will expand to Qatar’s Airbus A340 fleet.

To commemorate the special event, Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer conducted a FaceTime call with Elon Musk while onboard the flight. Musk was at his California residence and added:

“This is the minimum, and it only gets better from here.”

The new technology will not only give every passenger complimentary wi-fi onboard with download speeds of up to 350 Mbps but also allow in-flight wi-fi calling through services like FaceTime, Teams, and Zoom. We’ll discuss that separately later today.

Other Starlink operators include Air Baltic and Hawaiian Airlines, with United Airlines set to launch Starlink service in 2025.

image: Qatar Airways