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I Tested Air France’s New Starlink Wi-Fi. It Was Fantastic — And It Could Be on Your Next Flight.

Daniel Ross's image
Daniel Ross
Edited by: Ryan Smith
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Air France is set to become a leader in inflight Wi-Fi, now that its Starlink rollout has started.

The French flag carrier recently debuted Starlink onboard its retrofitted Embraer 190 aircraft, which operate regional hops within Europe.

I got a chance to try it out for myself on a flight from Paris (CDG) to Barcelona (BCN), and I was very impressed with the speed, reliability, and, most of all, the fact that it was completely free.

Here’s everything you need to know about Air France’s Starlink rollout and when we can expect it on flights operating to and from the U.S.

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A spokesperson for Air France confirmed to Upgraded Points that at least 15 aircraft are now fitted with Starlink Wi-Fi. At the time of writing, this includes some Embraer E190 and Airbus A220 planes, as well as a couple of Airbus A350s.

As Air France sends its A350s to multiple destinations in the U.S., there’s a slight chance that you might get lucky on your next flight to or from Paris.

Unfortunately, Air France couldn’t provide an exact list of which aircraft are Starlink-enabled. The only one I know for sure is the 10-year-old Embraer 190 registered F-HBLV — the plane that I flew from Barcelona to Paris this week.

Starlink should be available on 30% of Air France’s planes by the end of 2025 and the whole fleet by the end of 2026.

Bottom Line:

Starlink is fast becoming the Internet provider of choice for airlines. Qatar Airways is leading the way, having completed a fleet-wide rollout. SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JSX, Virgin Atlantic, United, and several other airlines are making it a standard feature as well. Conversely, JetBlue will use Amazon’s Project Kuiper for high-speed internet on flights.

Connecting to Air France’s Starlink took just a few simple clicks.

Air France Starlink step 1
Step 1: Welcome aboard. Image Credit: Air France

The second click was to acknowledge the terms and conditions. You’ll need an Air France-KLM Flying Blue account to access Starlink. I clicked “sign in” and was logged in automatically.

Air France Starlink step 2
Step 2: Accept the terms and conditions and sign in to Flying Blue. Image Credit: Air France

That was it; I was connected in a split second.

Air France Starlink connection
Image Credit: Air France.

The connection didn’t drop or become unstable at all during the 90-minute flight. The speeds were impressive, too, at 285 Mbps for downloads.

Screenshot
Image Credit: Ookla.

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Final Thoughts

Starlink Wi-Fi is a true game-changer regarding connectivity in the sky. As a frequent Air France flyer, I can’t wait for its Starlink Wi-Fi to feature on every flight. It certainly missed it on my 12-hour flight to Cape Town yesterday, as the regular Wi-Fi was essentially nonexistent.

Daniel Ross's image

About Daniel Ross

Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.

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