Air France, the French national airline, has selected Starlink for its in-flight broadband needs. The SkyTeam member will fit its entire fleet with the Starlink IFC system to support free Wi-Fi for passengers, who will need to be members of its Flying Blue frequent flyer scheme.

The decision is undoubtedly bad news for French satellite operator Eutelsat and its OneWeb low Earth orbiting fleet of satellites.

The new scheme will start in mid-2025. Air France says it is now beginning to retrofit existing equipment

Air France is part of a consortium with Dutch airline KLM. The French government owns 28 per cent of the joint-venture.

Back in 2018 Air France selected Anuvu (perhaps better remembered as Global Eagle) and Orange Business as its in-flight supplier with Gogo commercial aviation (now owned by Intelsat) and Panasonic Aviation as suppliers.

Starlink-powered IFC service will gradually start rolling out on Air France aircraft from summer 2025 and passengers can expect a “home-like” experience.

The news follows on from a similar announcement by United Airlines and Starlink now embraces Hawaiian Airlines, WestJet, airBaltic, Qatar Airways, and ZIPAIR in its consortium of airlines.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: france, starlink