In September 2024, Air France announced plans to introduce free high speed Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, reinforcing its position as Europe’s most premium global airline (along with all of its other product investments).
Late in the summer of 2025, the SkyTeam carrier started its Starlink rollout. I’d like to take an updated look at how this project is going, because Air France has done a really impressive job rolling this out, and is really showing competitors (especially British Airways) how it’s done.
In this post:
Air France installing free Starlink Wi-Fi fleetwide
Air France is partnering with SpaceX, to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi throughout its fleet. Best of all, Air France is offering Starlink Wi-Fi for free for all members of its Flying Blue loyalty program (which is free to sign-up for), and members can connect with multiple devices.
Starlink is known for its high speed, low latency broadband internet, and the service is available gate to gate. Starlink allows for live streaming, productivity similar to on the ground (with high upload and download speeds), gaming, e-commerce, and more. I’ve shared my experience with Air France’s Starlink service, and found it to be a complete game changer, particularly on long haul flights.
Starlink is becoming increasingly popular with airlines. So far we’ve seen carriers like American Airlines, Aer Lingus, airBaltic, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Copa, Emirates, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Korean Air, Lufthansa Group, Qatar Airways, SAS, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and WestJet, all announce plans to install the service.
What’s also great about Starlink is that the installation process is pretty quick, once aircraft are certified to have it installed.
Air France making great progress on Starlink rollout
Air France has done a stellar job with the pace at which it has been rolling out Starlink. What impresses me so much is how Air France is concurrently installing Starlink across several fleet type, which sure helps with the pace.
For what it’s worth, Air France hopes to complete rolling out Starlink by the end of 2026. As things currently stand, nearly 60% of aircraft have Starlink installed. So, how does that break down by aircraft type? Here’s a handy resource that shows the progress being made with each type of plane. As of early June 2026, you’ll find Starlink on:
- 28 of 31 Boeing 777-300ERs (90%); notably, all planes with the new La Premiere cabin also have Starlink Wi-Fi
- 45 of 56 Airbus A220-300s (80%)
- 24 of 30 Embraer E190s (80%)
- 30 of 41 Airbus A350-900s (73%)
- Three of 28 Airbus A320s (11%)
As you can see, if you fly an E190, A220, A350, or 777-300ER, you have very good odds of getting Starlink. Meanwhile Starlink is not yet available on any Airbus A321s, Boeing 777-200ERs, Boeing 787-9s, or Embraer E170s. The Airbus A318s, Airbus A319s, and Airbus A330-200s, won’t be getting the service, since they’ll all be retired by the spring of 2027, at the latest.
During the transitional period, Air France continues to offer its existing Wi-Fi plans, which include a free messaging pass for Flying Blue members, plus paid Wi-Fi options for all others, as well as those looking for internet surfing and streaming. Air France La Premiere (first class) and Flying Blue Ultimate customers continue to receive complimentary Wi-Fi during this transition period.
Air France really deserves a lot of credit for the speed at which it’s installing Starlink:
- Currently, Air France is the airline with the second highest total number of planes with Starlink, after United
- In terms of the percent of fleet with Starlink, Air France is only beat by ZIPAIR Tokyo (which has it on its entire fleet of eight 787s), WestJet (which has it on 83% of planes, but also has a smaller and more consistent fleet), and Hawaiian Airlines (which has it on 68% of planes, but has stopped the installation process)
Bottom line
Air France is currently rolling out free Starlink Wi-Fi. The installation process is well underway, with nearly 60% of planes now having Starlink. You can expect to find Starlink on a vast majority of E190s, A220s, A350s, and 777-300ERs, with the remaining fleet expected to get the service by the end of 2026 (aside from the planes being imminently retired).
Given the diversity of Air France’s fleet (and therefore the complexity with installing Starlink), I think the airline deserves massive credit for the pace at which it’s rolling this out. In particular, I think it’s brilliant how Starlink was prioritized on the carrier’s 777s with new cabins, since those operate in the most premium markets.
What do you make of Air France rolling out free Starlink Wi-Fi? Have you experienced it yet?
Starlink or any other WiFi might be a necessity for some business travellers, it might well be a nice to have facility for some, however, for the vast majority of leisure travellers it is just a means of feeding their addiction to it.
A pity that KLM planes won't be getting the fast Starlink, only Viasat/Panasonic. Even SAS getting Starlink.
Contract constraints with Viasat/Panasonic - They will move to Starlink after for sure, around 2030
No news about their upcoming A350s getting Starlink though. I doubt KLM had a contract with Viasat to equip all of their future planes as well.
I experienced it on several AF flights and found it surprisingly slow.
I wonder if there is a limit per connection or if someone can simply cannibalize all the bandwidth by streaming or downloading heavy content ?
I sincerely hope that Air France limits and/or prohibits the use of voice calls and enforces the use of headphones for each passenger?! Otherwise it'll be a very tough flight for everyone!
Too bad their inferior ST partners You Know Who have chosen a more inferior path forward (in a few years, no big hurry)
Was pleasantly surprised that I got to fly with Starlink on both of my AF flights in April (especially when AF sent an email saying the long-haul flight wasn't going to have it). Best part of the situation was being able to stream an NBA playoff game in full fidelity. Glad to see them progressing with the install so quickly, will be flying them again early 2027.
BA cannot get StarLink on more than 4 planes for years.
Pretty cool! Can't wait to test it out when I'll get to try Air France
AF/KL is a great airline, and FlyingBlue an excellent program. AF best for the food (and wine!) KL for their timeliness and Delft Blue Houses!
Flying Blue is a pile of rubbish when it comes to redemptions. A minimum of 85k for six hours in business class to DSS is scandalous, particularly as it's just 60k all the way to LAX. Scrapping the partner award chart has accompanied a move from zonal pricing to penalising passengers for having to take connecting flights.
I used to be Gold and trying to keep FB as my main SkyTeam programme, now I only use it because of the free double-dipping with Accor.
Gotta find the Promo Rewards (usually on the first of each month, offering discounts of up to 25%, sometimes more.) As for Senegal, isn't that at least widebody (330 or 772?), so lie-flat for J. I mean, to some, that may not be ideal, but to other 85K (worth $850) might be decent use. The Accor partnership is indeed helpful.
@1990,the fact that it's lie flat doesn't really help when the flight is too short for anything more than a quick nap! It's also worth mentioning that redemptions on AF metal between Europe and Africa cost fewer VS points than FB miles.
I think you're definitely framing things from a US perspective re service. For my latest flight from Morocco, AF had the audacity to promise a hot meal on the app. Of course I...
@1990,the fact that it's lie flat doesn't really help when the flight is too short for anything more than a quick nap! It's also worth mentioning that redemptions on AF metal between Europe and Africa cost fewer VS points than FB miles.
I think you're definitely framing things from a US perspective re service. For my latest flight from Morocco, AF had the audacity to promise a hot meal on the app. Of course I knew it wasn't going to happen and ate in the lounge. When I mentioned it to the FA, she asked me to file a written complaint. The response to my email proceeded to further insult my intelligence by ignoring the whole point I'd been making about misleading pax with the false advertising in the app and saying that they don't offer the same meals on all flights (tell me something I don't know!). When I responded to call them out on it, they just didn't write back. I'm pretty laid back when it comes to people having a bad day at work but I have no patience for systemically evil tw@ts.
To be fair, I'll happily fly AF in long haul business class, but 'great' airlines don't try to get away with serving a crappy quinoa salad to premium pax on 4-hour flights, nor do they keep food uncovered in lounges where mice have been living for decades. @1990 , please recalibrate your expectations - Aegean and TAP are on a completely different level when it comes to European business class service.
Meals on 4-hour flights? Some US carriers don't even serve meals on those anymore! (Maybe I'm viewing this from a US-lens.) I've been on Aegean and TAP. Personally, I prefer the nostalgia of Olympic and the old Athens airport (I think they still have a graffiti'd 747 there.) TAP's narrowbody a321XLR/neo with lie-flat is excellent. Enjoyed it on EWR-OPO.