There’s no denying that the uptake of Starlink has been a massive success in the commercial aviation sector. With almost 50 carriers signing on, either offering it as a first-time service or switching away from other legacy satellite operators, the new service has changed the in-flight online experience for the better.

With the respective launches, all carriers so far have announced that the new service will be free of charge, with most of the larger brands tying the service into their mileage rewards programs. As these are free to sign up for, access to Starlink would still be free as well.

Most carriers offered the new service free of charge as an incentive to travel with them, but according to OMAAT, one possibility may be that SpaceX previously required carriers to offer the service for free to customers as part of their contract with the airline.

If that is the case, this appears to be changing as Copa Airlines has announced that it will charge some of its customer base to use the satellite service. According to their Starlink FAQ page, the following customers will be entitled to free Wi-Fi while everyone else be will required to pay:

  • ConnectMiles Gold, Platinum, and Presidential members
  • Business Class customers (through purchase or upgrades)
  • Existing Starlink Residential and Starlink Roam customers

If what OMAAT says is true, then this change is definitely official as customers who have to pay for access will be required to do so through the official Starlink portal on board the aircraft. As of now, I could not find any specifics regarding pricing information.

There are also a few other caveats such as not being able to log in via multiple devices, with the ability to hotspot also being disabled. While some airlines like British Airways are allowing phone calls, Copa has explicitly banned this function, saying:

“We want to maintain a comfortable experience for everyone onboard, therefore, voice calls are not permitted. You can join video conferences in silent mode and using headphones at all times.”

This is definitely an interesting move, but I guess it’s still a step in the right direction as Copa previously did not offer Wi-Fi services across its fleet of almost 120 aircraft. Copa operates an all-Boeing fleet consisting of a mix of 737-700s, 737-800s, 737 MAX 8s and 737 MAX 9s. They Latin American carrier has slowly started rolling out Starlink-equipped aircraft and plans to have the upgrade completed by the first half of 2027.

With Copa setting this precedent, the big question now is, will others follow? I’m sure we won’t see big brands backtracking on their decision to go free, but I wouldn’t blame smaller carriers for charging a small fee as they may not have the financial flexibility to offer the service completely free of charge.

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