One of the largest US airlines, United Airlines, plans to fly the first commercial passenger flights with satellite Wi-Fi on board, backed by Elon Musk’s company’s Starlink satellite internet technology, The Verge reports.
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The first flight will take place this spring on an Embraer E-175 narrow-body aircraft for short interregional flights with capacity for 88 passengers. By the end of 2025, the company plans to transfer all double-cabin aircraft to Starlink and launch the first aircraft with the new Wi-Fi distribution technology on mainline flights. The airline’s ultimate goal is to equip its entire fleet of almost a thousand aircraft with Starlink Wi-Fi.
“We have many plans for the participants. [программы лояльности] MileagePlus for this year and equipping Starlink with as many aircraft as possible, as quickly as possible, is at the heart of it all. “This will not only revolutionize the United flying experience, but will also open up a host of new partnership opportunities and benefits for our premium customers,” said Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus. Registration in the MileagePlus program is free for everyone.
Previously, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, in announcing plans to install Starlink on all of the company’s planes, emphasized that the service would be free for all passengers with the Internet speed “that everyone has on earth.”
Currently, according to information from One Mile at a Time, United purchases in-flight satellite Internet services from Intelsat, Panasonic and Viasat, with Viasat providing the highest quality services in terms of Internet speed. Viasat terminals are located on most Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, as well as some Airbus A319 and A321neo aircraft.
However, if Starlink is successfully implemented on United planes, passengers will even be able to make video calls, play online games and live streams right on board the plane – the Internet speed indicated on the company’s website may reach 220 Mb/s download and up to 25 Mb/s in dispatch.
Author:
Mikhail Zelenin
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
