Hawaiian Airlines Launches Starlink Across Entire Airbus Fleet

Hawaiian Airlines has announced it is now offering free Starlink high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi on all Airbus-operated flights between the islands, the U.S. mainland, Asia, and Oceania.

After being the first major U.S. airline to introduce Starlink in February on its Airbus A321neo aircraft, Hawaiian has completed installation on its entire A330 fleet. Passengers can now connect to Wi-Fi as soon as they board, with speeds suitable for streaming, gaming, and working.

“Becoming the first major airline to offer travelers Starlink at no cost is a remarkable achievement,” said Evan Nomura, director of inflight entertainment and connectivity at Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian also plans to equip its Boeing 787-9 fleet with Starlink, further enhancing in-flight connectivity. However, the airline will not offer the service on its Boeing 717 planes used for short inter-island flights.

Starlink is quickly become the standard for in-flight connectivity. Why would any airline want to stick with slower and older geostationary satellites?