Norwegian Air does not plan to use Starlink Wi-Fi, CEO says
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FILE PHOTO: A Norwegian Air plane is refuelled at Oslo Gardermoen airport, Norway November 7, 2019. Picture taken November 7, 2019. REUTERS/Lefteris Karagiannopoulos/File Photo
By Vera Dvorakova
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Norwegian Air Shuttle does not plan to bring Starlink's Wi-Fi onto its aircraft for now, as the budget airline offers a paid service from another vendor on its flights, CEO Geir Karlsen told Reuters on Friday.
Major airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar Airways are becoming important customers for Starlink, but the product is less appealing to budget carriers that rely on ancillary services to compensate for low ticket prices.
"As far as I know, ... if you install Starlink, you're not able to ... charge for the use towards your passengers," Karlsen said.
He added Starlink was not certified for the Boeing 737 aircraft, although it will be in the future.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary last month publicly clashed with Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates Starlink, about the use of its services. O'Leary said that Starlink would cost the airline up to $250 million a year.
Another budget airline, EasyJet, said in January it was exploring a Starlink Wi-Fi deal, but "the economics" were not quite working for it.
(Reporting by Vera Dvorakova in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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