I tried Elon Musk's Starlink WiFi on its first Qatar Airways flight. Making video calls at 36,000 feet is a game changer for business and leisure.

26.10.2024 - 15:19 / insider.com / Elon Musk

Qatar Airways launched its first flight featuring Elon Musk's Starlink WiFi on Tuesday — and Business Insider was invited to the event.

Approaching the gate at Doha's Hamad International Airport, animated archways celebrated the partnership. On board, a promotional video followed the safety briefing, and Starlink cupcakes were handed out to passengers.

Having connected to the airline's regular WiFi service on another flight the day before, I was impressed that my phone automatically connected on the Starlink flight.

Even if it were your first time flying with Qatar, you would only have to select the "OryxComms" WiFi network without the fuss of entering your email or paying for access.

One of the flight attendants I spoke to during the flight said this could reduce their workload, as there would be fewer passengers asking for help connecting or complaining about the spotty connection.

I was flying in the QSuite business class for this media event, but Starlink WiFi is free for passengers in every cabin.

On my flight from London to Qatar with the same airline, I paid $10 for inflight WiFi, which typically had a download speed of around 5 megabits per second. I could watch some YouTube videos in 360p and stream music, but I had to be patient with buffering.

By contrast, the Starlink WiFi was as high as 215 megabits — faster than most home internet speeds. However, I saw it dip as low as 11 Mbps as we flew over the Black Sea before returning to three figures over central Europe.

I managed to catch up with my favorite quiz show, "University Challenge," watching it in high-definition with no buffering, plus I could stream music without a hitch.

Several influencers and YouTubers were on board Tuesday's flight, too, and I saw them livestream on Instagram from the air.

However, I think business travelers would most appreciate the benefits of speedy inflight internet. Crucially, there's almost no downtime as Starlink operates gate-to-gate, while standard inflight WiFi is only activated at cruising altitude.

I didn't have any work meetings scheduled, but I did video call several people on WhatsApp, starting with a fellow journalist, Simple Flying's Tom Boon, who was also on the flight. I also called my parents, as well as my friend Thom at home in west London. He said the video quality looked just as good as on the ground.

For high-flying businesspeople, I can see this being a game changer because it means you can almost constantly keep up to date with what's happening on the ground. That's especially notable given that Qatar prides itself on its business-class offering, named the world's best by Skytrax.

Some executives laud private jets for the time saved during boarding, plus better WiFi services, but