Lufthansa's First Starlink-Equipped Aircraft Enters Service, Plans to Equip Around 850 Aircraft by 2029

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Lufthansa has begun rolling out SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service on its passenger aircraft, with the first retrofitted plane now in commercial operation. The company plans to fully equip around 850 aircraft across the group with the system by 2029. The first aircraft to feature Starlink is an Airbus A320neo (registration D-AINM), which operated Lufthansa Flight 234 from Frankfurt to Rome on Wednesday, making passengers on board the first to experience the service on Lufthansa's core brand routes.

This high-speed internet service is available free of charge to status customers and users who have registered for Travel-ID, regardless of cabin class. Lufthansa stated that the introduction of Starlink connectivity is aimed at meeting passengers' needs for streaming video content, cloud-based work, and high-data-volume applications during flight.

Regarding fleet rollout, Lufthansa plans to equip up to ten A320-series aircraft of Lufthansa and Lufthansa City Airlines with the high-speed internet equipment this year. Installation work will primarily be carried out at Lufthansa Technik in Berlin, with scheduling aligned with planned technical inspection downtime.

The Starlink system provides network connectivity via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Regarding in-flight usage guidelines, Lufthansa advises: passengers should wear headphones when listening to audio and watching video content, and should refrain from making voice calls, video calls, and live streaming during the flight.