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

• I was on board the first Qatar Airways flight with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet.

• It achieved impressively fast speeds that allowed me to video call friends and write an article.

• With high-speed WiFi, disconnection was difficult in one of the last bastions of low connectivity.

Qatar Airways launched its first flight featuring Elon MuskStarlink WiFi on Tuesday – and Business Insider was invited to the event.

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

Connecting 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’s your first time flying with Qatar, you should just 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 that this could reduce their workload as there would be fewer passengers asking for help with the connection or complaining about the erratic connection.

I was flying in 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 WiFi on boardwhich typically had a download speed of about 5 megabits per second. I could watch some YouTube videos in 360p and stream music, but I had to be patient with buffering.

In contrast, Starlink WiFi was up to 215 megabits – faster than most home internet speeds. However, I saw it drop to 11Mbps while flying over the Black Sea, before returning to triple digits over central Europe.

I was able to catch up on my favorite quiz show, College Challenge, watching it in high definition without stuttering, plus I could stream music without a problem.

There were even more influencers and YouTubers on board Tuesday’s flight, and we saw them live on Instagram from the air.

However, I think business travelers would appreciate the benefits of fast internet on board the most. Crucially, there is almost no downtime as Starlink operates gate-to-gate, while standard in-flight WiFi is only activated at cruising altitude.

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

For top business people, I can see this being a game changer as it means you can be almost constantly aware of what is happening on the ground. This is particularly remarkable given that Qatar prides itself on its business class offering, named the best in the world by Skytrax.

Some directors praise private planes for time saved during boarding, plus better WiFi services, but Starlink’s top-notch connectivity should make commercial flights almost as attractive, especially as it rolls out on more airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines has as well Starlink on board. United Airlines and Air France are among the other carriers that have announced plans to install Musk’s ultra-high-speed satellite WiFi service.

At 36,000 feet above the Persian Gulf, I was able to write and record a story about the event for Business Insider without issue—something I couldn’t accomplish with poor Wi-Fi on an earlier version. train ride.

It meant I had nowhere to hide when colleagues and my editor texted me with work questions, highlighting what can be seen as the downside of better connectivity.

Thanks to their usually spotty WiFi, airplanes are perhaps one of the last bunkers to get away from work, decompress and forget about the outside world. Consider, for example, this summer’s whimsical TikTok trend of “crud-dogging” flights — flying without any in-flight entertainment.

This is much less likely if you can easily scroll through Twitter or Instagram on your phone — or be invited to join a Zoom meeting.

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