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In-flight internet: Air Baltic's Starlink offers smooth streaming, unlike competitors
🇫🇮 Finland /Technology

In-flight internet: Air Baltic's Starlink offers smooth streaming, unlike competitors

From Helsingin Sanomat · () Finnish

Translated from Finnish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Air Baltic is increasingly equipping its Airbus A220-300 fleet with free Starlink internet, allowing for smooth streaming during flights.
  • This contrasts with the often unreliable and costly Wi-Fi services offered by other airlines like Finnair, Norwegian, and Air France.
  • Passengers currently cannot confirm the type of Wi-Fi available on their specific flight at the time of booking, leading to uncertainty.

The quality of in-flight internet can vary dramatically, from barely functional to surprisingly robust, as demonstrated by Air Baltic's adoption of SpaceX's Starlink.

During a late-night Air Baltic flight from Riga to Helsinki, the author was able to stream the entire ice hockey World Championship final without interruption using the free "airBaltic Starlink" Wi-Fi. The connection proved sufficient for live broadcasting, leading to cheers from passengers when Finland won. This experience transformed the perception of in-flight Wi-Fi from a minor add-on to an essential service.

Air Baltic confirmed that the flight utilized an Airbus A220-300 equipped with Starlink, noting that the connection is available throughout the flight. Starlink, a satellite internet service from SpaceX, uses low Earth orbit satellites. While Air Baltic is equipping over half its A220-300 fleet with this free service, some aircraft still lack any internet connectivity.

Other airlines present a mixed bag of offerings. Finnair provides Wi-Fi on its Airbus planes, with options for streaming on narrow-body aircraft at a cost, though streaming is not available on long-haul flights. Norwegian offers 15 minutes of limited-speed free Wi-Fi on equipped 737-800 planes, with paid packages for streaming. Ryanair does not offer Wi-Fi at all. Air France is gradually introducing free Starlink Wi-Fi for its Flying Blue members, with paid options for browsing and streaming on aircraft not yet equipped with Starlink.

A significant challenge for passengers is the uncertainty surrounding Wi-Fi availability. Currently, travelers cannot confirm the specific Wi-Fi service on their flight at the time of booking, making it difficult to plan accordingly.

In that moment, the airplane's Wi-Fi stopped feeling like a small add-on.

— AuthorDescribing the impact of reliable in-flight internet.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Helsingin Sanomat in Finnish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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