Becoming The First, Hawaiian Airlines Will Offer Free SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi Connection

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 fleet illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tomás Del Coro)

JAKARTA - Hawaiian Airlines plans to offer free Wi-Fi service through Starlink SpaceX, in an announcement at the end of April.

It is planned that satellite-based internet services will be available early next year on Hawaiian Airlines' transpacific fleet, making it the first major airline to offer Starlink.

The service, created by Elon Musk's private space aviation company SpaceX, uses a constellation of satellites in low orbit to reduce latency, or the time it takes data to travel between the user and the satellite.

The airline said it expects to begin installation on certain aircraft in 2023 for flights between the islands and continents of the US, Asia and Oceania.

The service will be installed on the airline's Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft and on the upcoming Boeing 787-9. Hawaiian also said the service would not be available on Boeing 717 aircraft used for short flights between islands in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 cabin. (Wikimedia Commons/Bmurphy380)

Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, promised "the best connectivity experience available on the air," in a statement.

"We're waiting until the technology meets our high standards for guest experience, but it will be worth the wait," Ingram said in a news release, citing CNN, April 25

"Our guests can look forward to fast, smooth and free Wi-Fi to complement our award-winning Hawaiian onboard hospitality,"

You know, Starlink recently made headlines when SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk sent a shipment of user terminals to Ukraine. The delivery was in response to a tweet from Ukraine's deputy prime minister asking Musk for help in maintaining connectivity as Russia launched its invasion.

Musk followed up with a warning to Ukraine to use the service with caution, to minimize the risk of being targeted by Russian forces.