Starlink improves Airline wifi internet speeds, fastest in the world at 276 megabits per second

By Ross Moyo

Elon Musk SpaceX’s Starlink is the fastest inflight internet in the world according to latest data findings.Ookla data shows that Hawaii Airlines and Qatar Airways led the chart for inflight internet speeds in Q1 2025. The two airlines delivered top internet speeds of 276 megabits per second and 236 megabits per second. The most common internet speeds in these airlines were 161 megabits per second and 120 megabits per second, while the lowest speeds were 57 megabits per second and 15 megabits per second.
Crucially, the most common or median internet speeds for Hawaii Airlines were nearly twice the speeds for Spirit Airlines, which ranked third in the internet speed rankings. Unlike Hawaii Airlines and Qatar Airways, Spirit Airlines does not rely on SpaceX’s Starlink to provide inflight internet coverage. Spirit Airlines relies on Hughes for Internet coverage, which in turn relies primarily on medium Earth orbit (MEO) and GEO satellites for Internet connectivity but also retains support for LEO satellites.

Starlink leads the board of internet speeds for inflight connectivity providers. The most common Starlink internet speed was 152 megabits per second, which was once again nearly double the second-ranking internet provider Hughes, whose median speed sat at 84 megabits per second. Starlink was also the only internet service in the data set whose highest speeds of 254 megabits per second crossed the 200 megabits per second mark. Starlink was also by far the leader in latency, as its latency of 44 milliseconds was more than ten times less than the second position MTN which had a 667-millisecond latency.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites on their way to orbit have enabled airlines to improve their WiFi internet speeds significantly, showing data from Ookla. Starlink is the world’s largest low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service, and along with marketing the service to consumers, SaceX has also sought to disrupt the global logistics and transportation industry with the service by proving internet coverage in air and in far-flung regions. According to Ookla’s data, Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways which Zimbabweans use as connecting flights to Qatar, Dubai and other areas had the highest median internet speeds due to their reliance on SpaceX’s internet service.

The Internet Service is hence enabling airlines to experience faster in-Flight WiFi Speeds with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation being the largest low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of its kind courtesy of the firm’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX has rapidly captured the LEO market as it now waits for rivals such as Amazon’s Kuiper to build their constellations. Since its launch, SpaceX has aimed to provide internet connectivity to underserved regions with Starlink. The firm has also established itself in the maritime and airline internet industry.

SpaceX’s Starlink is available on several airlines including JSX, Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways, with United Airlines also expected to introduce the service on its aircraft soon. As for the maritime industry, Royal Caribbean has also announced a partnership with SpaceX to extend Starlink’s presence in the leisure and travel industry.
Starlink, unlike most other satellite internet providers, benefits from relying on LEO satellites as they allow faster data transfer speeds between the satellite dishes and the satellites to improve connectivity speeds.