A look into the future – airBaltic tested SpaceX Internet Starlink | Business

“We are delighted to be leading Europe in offering high-speed, unlimited and free in-flight connectivity on our aircraft. This first test provided good insights and brought us closer to improving the service for airBaltic passengers traveling on the airBaltic network in Europe and beyond,” said Martin Gauss, president and CEO of airBaltic.

“We are grateful to our partners at SpaceX, Starlink, for their unwavering support throughout this transformative journey. Their shared ambitions and dedication perfectly complement the values ​​of airBaltic. Since we use one of the most modern types of aircraft on the market, the next logical step for us was to install the most advanced Starlink in-flight internet solution in this aircraft fleet,” highlighted M. Gauss.

Company photo/airBaltic Starlink testing

“Starlink continues to enable high-speed, low-latency in-flight internet around the world, and we are excited to bring this next-generation experience to Europe with airBaltic’s A220 fleet,” said Jason Fritch, Vice President of Starlink Enterprise Sales.

airBaltic is working with SpaceX to obtain the necessary STC (supplemental type certification) approval, and the product is expected to be installed on airBaltic’s Airbus A220-300 aircraft by the end of this year.

airBaltic, which plans to equip its entire fleet of A220-300 aircraft with SpaceX’s Starlink in-flight communication system, aims to ensure that every passenger can seamlessly use high-speed Internet throughout the journey without any hassles or login pages. Internet access will be available to all passengers from boarding to disembarking.

Developed by SpaceX, Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency broadband Internet to more than 90 countries and territories around the world, and last year began providing in-flight high-speed Internet for commercial aircraft. By using satellites in low Earth orbit, more than 65 times closer than conventional geostationary satellites, Starlink achieves significantly lower latency and higher transmission speeds for end users.

Starlink can transmit up to 500 Mbps of data to the aircraft, and with a latency of just 20ms, passengers can engage in activities previously not possible in-flight, including online gaming, virtual private networks and other high-data-rate activities.