SAS – Scandinavian Airlines announced on September 1 that it had completed the installation of Starlink's high-speed Wi-Fi system across all 81 Airbus A320neo aircraft in its medium-haul fleet. The project was launched in March of the same year, with the ambition of bringing high-speed connectivity to as many customers as possible, and was completed in record time, just six months later.
The installations were carried out in parallel with the airline's normal flight operations, with each aircraft undergoing installation, testing, and approval before returning to service. Paul Verhagen, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at SAS, stated that door-to-door connectivity gives customers more freedom to make the most of their travel time.
The A320neo fleet represents approximately 70% of SAS's total fleet and forms the backbone of the airline's European network, operating a large portion of flights in Scandinavia and Europe. The completion of the implementation makes the A320neo the first aircraft type in SAS's fleet to be fully equipped with the Starlink system.
SAS will now proceed to the next phase of the implementation, with preparations for installation on the remaining aircraft types and other installations planned before the end of the year. The completion occurs during the airline's 80th anniversary year, during which it has connected Scandinavia with the world for eight decades. The Starlink platform uses a network of satellites in low Earth orbit to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
