Overview
- Retrofit installations start in the second half of 2026 with completion targeted for 2029 across roughly 850 aircraft at Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings.
- Access will be complimentary for status customers as well as travelers who log in with a Lufthansa Group Travel ID account.
- Existing onboard connectivity, including the European Aviation Network on short and medium routes, will remain available until each aircraft is upgraded.
- Lufthansa cites Starlink performance as the draw, with reported figures of about 310 Mbit/s versus roughly 150 Mbit/s for EAN and flight tests peaking around 215 Mbit/s.
- SPD transport policymakers criticized reliance on a U.S. provider and pointed to Deutsche Telekom as an alternative, even as around 20 airlines in Europe already use or plan to use Starlink.