Image: British Airways
Ryanair has no interest in joining the growing list of airlines rolling out Starlink-powered in-flight Wi-Fi.
The European budget airline has ruled out equipping its aircraft with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet, citing higher fuel costs and a lack of passenger demand on its short-haul routes. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary made the comments while speaking to Reuters, pushing back on the idea that Starlink makes sense for the carrier’s low-cost business model.
“You need to put antenna on fuselage it comes with a 2% fuel penalty because of the weight and drag,” O’Leary said. “We don’t think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average 1-hour flight.”
Installing Starlink Wi-Fi on aircraft does come with significant hardware and retrofit costs, which can be harder to justify for ultra-low-cost airlines like Ryanair. Still, the company’s reasoning stands in contrast to several rivals that have embraced Starlink specifically because of its lower aerodynamic drag compared to older satellite systems.
Lufthansa, a direct Ryanair competitor, announced this week that it will begin installing free Starlink-powered Wi-Fi across its entire fleet starting this year. Scandinavian airline SAS has already selected Starlink, previously stating that the system’s drag profile was lower than competing solutions. Other major carriers, including Emirates and flydubai, have also signed deals with SpaceX to bring fast, low-latency internet to passengers at no extra cost.
Notably, O’Leary’s suggestion that passengers would need to pay for Wi-Fi may already be outdated. SpaceX’s global head of Starlink’s aviation business, Nick Seitz, recently confirmed that airlines partnering with Starlink are expected to keep satellite-powered Wi-Fi free for passengers, using it as a value-add rather than a paid upsell.
Starlink’s momentum in aviation continues to build regardless. Qatar Airways has quietly become Starlink’s largest airline customer, operating the world’s first and biggest Starlink-equipped widebody fleet. As more airlines move toward free, high-speed connectivity as a standard feature, Ryanair’s decision to sit out could eventually stand out just as much as Starlink’s rapid expansion.
For now, Ryanair appears content sticking to its bare-bones approach — even as competitors raise the bar for in-flight connectivity.
