Plans are afoot for Hawaiian Airlines to become the first airline to offer free SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi to its passengers. The Wi-Fi service will be available in 2023 on select aircraft of the airline’s transpacific fleet. Read on to find out how this will impact passengers flying with Hawaiian Airlines from next year.
Free SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi coming to Hawaiian Airlines
Traveling to Hawaii’s islands is always a treat – taking advantage of the gorgeous beaches, delicious food and everything Aloha. However, from next year, travelers heading to the Hawaiian Islands will have an additional treat. They will be given access to free SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi during their flight to paradise.
Hawaiian Airlines made the announcement on Monday that as early as 2023, the satellite-based Internet service will be available to its passengers. Meanwhile, as noted by Reuters, this will be the first major airline to offer the Starlink service in the air.
Created by Elon Musk’s private spaceflight company SpaceX, the service uses a group of satellites in a low orbit to decrease latency. In layman’s terms, this means that it will decrease the time taken for data to make the journey between the user and the satellite.
How many aircraft will have the Starlink service?
A spokesperson for Hawaiian Airlines said it expects to start installation on select aircraft in 2023. Meanwhile, this will be available for flights between the islands, as well as the continental US, Asia and Oceania.
Initially, the Starlink service will be installed on the airlines’ Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft, as well as on its incoming Boeing 787-9s. However, the airline did say the Starlink service will not be available on the Boeing 717 aircraft it uses for short flights between the islands of Hawaii.
Speaking of the upcoming new service, Peter Ingram, President and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines said the service will offer “the best connectivity experience available in the air.”
He added in a press release that they had waited until technology had caught up with their high standards for their guests’ experience. However, Ingram said it will be “worth the wait.”
“Our guests can look forward to fast, seamless and free Wi-Fi to complement our award-winning onboard Hawaiian hospitality.”
SpaceX Starlink and Ukraine
Meanwhile, Starlink has recently been in the headlines after SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk sent a shipment of user terminals to Ukraine. As noted by CNN, Musk sent the shipment in response to a tweet from Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. She had asked for assistance in maintaining connectivity as Russia launched its invasion. Meanwhile, Svyrydenko also acts as the Minister of Economic Development and Trade in the country.
As the Russian invasion began, many citizens lost access to the Internet and even cell phone coverage in the country. This effectively cut them off from their loved ones and family in and outside Ukraine.
At the time, Musk did issue a warning to Ukrainians to use the Starlink service with caution. He made the warning in order to minimize the risk of being targeted by Russian forces.
Meanwhile, passengers on Hawaiian Airlines flights will now also share the benefit of the service at some stage in 2023.
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