Qatar Airways’ Starlink Domination, WestJet’s Icelandic Foray, and More Airline News This Week

Welcome back to another weekly airline news roundup.

This week, we cover Qatar’s leading Starlink rollout, some customer-centric changes to the Etihad Guest loyalty program, exciting new route announcements for Canada from both Iberia and WestJet, a development in the U.S-Mexico airport slot drama, and an update on Arajet’s U.S. expansion.

Let’s get started.

Qatar Airways Leads the Way With Starlink

Qatar Airways stole the show with the first-ever commercial passenger flight with Starlink Wi-Fi in October 2024.

Since then, the Doha-based airline has continued to roll out the best-in-class inflight connectivity to more than 100 of its wide-body aircraft. The chances of you having it on your next Qatar airways flight are pretty high.

As I write this roundup from a Boeing 777 QSuite aboard Qatar Airways flight 898 from Doha (DOH) to Brisbane (BNE), somewhere over the desert in Australia, I can confirm that Starlink is truly a game-changer when it comes to in-flight connectivity.

My connection has been uninterrupted, and the speeds are so fast that I can stream from my laptop with is no buffering whatsoever!

Other airlines have quickly followed suit, such as Air France, whose Starlink I recently tried out on one of its regional Embraer jets. You’ll also find Starlink on some, if not most, airBaltic, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and WestJet flights, and it’s also a standard benefit on JSX flights.

In other in-flight Wi-Fi news, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad announced it will install Viasat Amara Wi-Fi across its fleet, promising streaming and live TV capabilities.

Iberia Will Fly Its Airbus A321XLR to Toronto Next Year

Following the successful launch of its first Airbus A321XLR route to Boston (BOS) earlier in the year, Iberia is utilizing the long-range narrow-body aircraft to add Toronto (YYZ) to its route map.

Iberia will compete directly on the route with Air Canada, which operates a year-round, daily service.

The new service from Madrid (MAD) will start on June 13, 2026. It will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with the following schedule:

• Depart Madrid (MAD) at 12 p.m. and arrive in Toronto (YYZ) at 3 p.m.
• Depart Toronto (YYZ) at 5:10 p.m. and arrive in Madrid (MAD) at 6:55 a.m.

Iberia also flies its Airbus A321XLR to New York (JFK), San Juan (SJU), Santo Domingo (SDQ), and Washington, D.C. (IAD). As the airline receives more of the aircraft, it will venture into the Brazilian market with new routes launching to Recife (REC) on December 13, 2025, and Fortaleza (FOR) on January 19, 2026.

The narrow-body Airbus A321XLR is proving time and time again that it’s the perfect aircraft for airlines wishing to tap into new markets where the wouldn’t likely be enough demand to use a wide-body aircraft.

WestJet Doubles Down on Iceland With 2 New Routes

WestJet is hoping to capitalize on the tourism pull of Iceland by offering 2 new nonstop services from Canada.

The airline chose to connect the regional, smaller airports of Edmonton (YEG) in Alberta and Winnipeg (YEG) in Manitoba to the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik (KEF). Winnipeg has a large Icelandic population, so it’s surprising it took this long for a nonstop flight to connect the city with Iceland.

Edmonton and Winnipeg will join Calgary (YYC) as the second and third cities that WestJet connects with Iceland.

“It is truly exciting to see WestJet strengthen its presence in Iceland by launching direct service between Keflavík and two new destinations, Edmonton and Winnipeg,” said Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson, the chief commercial and airport development officer at KEF.

Once weekly service will start from Edmonton on June 26 and from Winnipeg on June 27. Flights will be operated by WestJet’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Iceland was just 1 of several new destinations that WestJet announced this week, with the Welsh capital Cardiff (CWL) in the U.K. stealing the limelight.

Etihad Makes Positive Changes to Etihad Guest Loyalty Program

Etihad has annouced some positive changes to its loyalty program, Etihad Guest.

The headline grabber is that it will now make all seats available to book with miles. GuestSeat awards are now known as “Saver Awards”.

“Saver Award seats highlight the exclusive value our members deserve, with more ways to tailor their travel to ehri needs and flexbility across every seat,” said Mark Potter, managing director of the Etihad Guest.

In a similar way to regular cash fares, Etihad’s Saver Awards will offer different bundles including features like being fully refundable.

A further development is the ability to earn Tier Miles in increments of between 25% and 50% on Comfort and Deluxe fare redemptions. The example below shows the Comfort option for a one-way economy Saver Award from New York (JFK) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) would earn 1,750 Tier Miles.

In doing so, Etihad Guest differentiates itself from most other loyalty programs, as it’s very rare for airlines to allow its frequent flyers to earn status when redeeming miles.

And finally, Etihad Guest members who’ve booked a “Business Comfort” or “Business Deluxe” award ticket will now be eligble for Etihad’s free UAE chauffeur service, irrespective of their level of status.

Developments in the U.S.-Versus-Mexico Slot Wars

The ongoing battle between Mexico and the U.S. regarding takeoff and landing slots has taken a surprising twist.

The update comes from none other than Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican President herself. She confirmed that Mexico will return some of the landing and takeoff slots at Mexico City’s main international airport to U.S. airlines, according to Reuters.

American carriers were originally denied slots in retaliation to the U.S. Department of Transport (DOT) and Trump Administration blocking over a dozen U.S.-bound route requests from Mexican carriers.

The news comes just weeks before Delta and Aeromexico are forced to end their partnership, once again under the DOT’s orders.

Arajet Completes U.S. Route Network…for Now

Dominican start-up Arajet landed in Boston (BOS) and Chicago (ORD) for the first time this week, completing its network of 6 U.S. destinations for 2025.

I recently spoke with Manuel Luna, chief communications officer for Arajet, who confirmed that this is just the start for the ambitious airline. Arajet has plans to connect 16 to 18 U.S. airports with nonstop service to the Dominican Republic within the next 2 to 3 years.

Next on the list will be Los Angeles (LAX) in 2026, and Houston (IAH) could follow quickly after.

Final Thoughts

Arajet, Iberia, and WestJet’s new routes are all signs that there is still plenty of untapped demand in the airline industry. As for Starlink Wi-Fi, I really hope it becomes the norm very quickly, as going back to terrible Wi-Fi after my last flight will be a struggle.

I also wish other airlines would take a page out of Etihad Guests’ book and think of more ways to reward loyal passengers, rather than taking perks away. And finally, I hope this battle between the U.S. and Mexico comes to an end soon, as it’s travelers who suffer when flight options disappear.