Qatar Airways has partnered with SpaceX’s Starlink to roll out high-speed internet across its fleet. This makes Qatar Airways the first airline in the Middle East and North Africa to offer this service.

The airline plans to equip its Boeing 777s by 2025 and its Airbus A350s by the summer of 2025. Passengers will be able to enjoy seamless connectivity, streaming, and gaming throughout their journey, completely free of charge.

“It’s going to get better. We launched new satellites and keep improving the software. Over time I think you’ll find it just gets better and better,” Musk said before Al Meer gave him a video tour of the cockpit.

Gulf Air will be the first in the Middle East and North Africa region to offer Starlink-supplied Wi-Fi to passengers. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran aims for reliable and speedy Wi-Fi on full-service carriers to become “ubiquitous” as airlines compete for enhanced services. Air New Zealand announced in late 2023 that Starlink would be launched on two of its domestic aircraft by late 2024.

Qatar Airways is developing a First Class concept and pursuing aircraft orders from Boeing and Airbus as part of its “Qatar Airways 2.0” strategic overhaul. The company’s global passenger demand increased 8.6% in August compared to 2023, with Middle Eastern carriers experiencing a 4.9% year-on-year increase.

“Think of this as the minimum. It only gets better from here,” Musk said to Qatar Tourism Chairman Saad bin Ali Al-Kharji, in a video where Al-Kharji was sitting next to Badr Al Meer on board the flight.