Starlink ends the times of patchy Wi-Fi on planes: Air New Zealand

The days of spotty – or worse, no – Wi-Fi on planes are numbered, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said.

Reliable and fast Wi-Fi will likely be “ubiquitous” amongst full-service providers, he told Squawk Box Asia on Friday.

But not only any WiFi will do. As airlines compete to lure passengers with fast – and ideally free – web within the skies, SpaceX's Starlink services have gotten the most recent “it” product to have on board.

Air New Zealand announced in December 2023 that Starlink services can be installed on two domestic aircraft in late 2024. The service, which provides high-speed web via around 6,000 satellites, will allow passengers to stream videos and send quick messaging across multiple devices, the corporate said.

However, passengers may have to attend slightly longer for Air New Zealand to launch these services. Foran told CNBC on Friday that planned Starlink tests with its aircraft have been postponed until 2025.

“Early next year you will see Starlink operating on one of our turboprops and also on one of our jets,” he said. “We've tested it in a way, but now the next step is to actually get it on the plane and operational. And from there we can assess the rollout.”

On September 13, United Airlines announced that it had signed the industry's largest agreement to this point for Starlink services. The airline said testing will begin in 2025 and can eventually expand to its entire fleet – greater than 1,000 aircraft – over the subsequent few years.

Starlink will enable passengers to access fast, reliable web services around the globe, including in distant and once inaccessible areas equivalent to mid-ocean and polar regions.

Both airlines have said Starlink services can be “free” to customers or included in the value of their flight, reasonably than having to buy them in-flight, which is eliminated one other weak point for many who want fast connectivity within the sky.

Foran said he met with representatives from Starlink and its owner SpaceX two hours before talking to CNBC.

“We have made great progress there,” he said. “We're well on our way… I think it's going to be a fantastic deal.”

Starlink is quickly becoming the popular web provider within the sky, with connectivity deals with major industrial airlines like Hawaiian Airlines and smaller carriers like JSX.

At the tip of September, Air France announced plans to roll out Starlink web services across its entire fleet from summer 2025.

In a press release, the French airline described the move as “a major step in its rise to market.”