Qatar Airways partners with Elon Musk’s Starlink for high-speed Wi-Fi milestone

Qatar Airways launched Tuesdayits inaugural Boeing 777 flight equipped with Elon Musk's Starlink internet, paving the way for a new era of in-flight connectivity across its entire fleet by next year. 

To demonstrate the milestone, Qatar Airways CEO Badr Al Meer held a video call with Starlink founder Musk while flying at 35,000 feet from Doha to London.

"We're literally just talking over Starlink right now - that's super cool," Musk said on the call from his home, which was filmed and released by the Qatari airline. "It's Starlink across the laser links of the satellites all the way to your aircraft."

Qatar Airways' move to introduce free high-speed internet across its fleet is a direct challenge to competitor airlines who typically offer lower-speed and often patchy paid services, or status-restricted wi-fi access to the flying public. 

"It's going to get better. We launched new satellites and keep improving the software. Over time I think you'll find it just gets better and better," Musk said before Al Meer gave him a video tour of the cockpit. 

"Think of this as the minimum. It only gets better from here," Musk said to Qatar Tourism Chairman Saad bin Ali Al-Kharji, who was sitting next to Badr Al Meer on board the flight. 

The Qatari state carrier plans to deliver 12 Boeing 777-300s equipped with the service by the end of 2024, with coverage for the entire Boeing 777 fleet in 2025 and its Airbus A350 fleet following in the summer of 2025.

Starlink, which operates as a satellite internet constellation, provides high-speed and low-latency internet via some 6,000 satellites, allowing passengers to stream videos, send messages and hold calls over wi-fi on multiple devices. Qatar Airways, which is undertaking a major strategic