Ookla: Starlink Outpaces Rivals in In-Flight Wi-Fi Performance
LEO satellite provider delivers fastest speeds and lowest latency in new analysis
Jennifer Michel
June 30, 2025 — Ookla released a report Monday comparing in-flight Wi-Fi services on different airlines, revealing that those who use Starlink as their provider – Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways – have the highest performance.
Ookla’s research, based on the first quarter of 2025, establishes that “in-flight Wi-Fi for the majority of users compares very poorly with their experience on terrestrial networks.” That being said, there are differences in Wi-Fi speed and latency performance between airlines, with Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways performing best on these metrics.
Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways use SpaceX’s Starlink low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to provide inflight connection – rather than geostationary satellites (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), multi-orbit/hybrid network providers, or ground-based LTE – producing superior download speeds, upload speeds, and latency.
According to the report, “The advantages of its dense LEO constellation compared to the GEOs make SpaceX’s Starlink the clear standout in speeds and latency.”
Starlink-powered flights showed median download speeds of 152.37 Megabits per second (Mbps), upload speeds of 24.16 Mbps, and latency of 44 milliseconds.
Meanwhile, airlines such as Air France, Cathay Pacific, Condor, and Lufthansa that use Deutsche Telekom’s LTE ground network deliver a “minimally usable median download speed of 4.14 Mbps,” meaning that passengers are faced with slow, unstable internet.
However, Ookla notes that many other airlines are providing “very usable” speeds via geostationary satellites: Hughes, which serves Spirit Airlines, delivers a “solid” median download speed of 84.55 Mbps. Similarly, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines are served by Intelsat and receive a download speed of 61.61 Mbps.
Ookla concludes that this is just the beginning for inflight Wi-Fi and that connectivity will only advance and improve from here. “Just as hotels have progressively integrated Wi-Fi connectivity as a standard amenity for their guests, in-flight Wi-Fi is transitioning from a novelty to a convenience to an expected service,” the company said in a release.
