Qatar Airways has become the first carrier in the world to bring SpaceX’s Starlink Ku-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-supported inflight connectivity to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with the oneworld alliance member revealing today that three 787-8s are now flying with the service.
The 787 has unique retrofit requirements due to its composite airframe. As such, Boeing developed new technology to ensure that electronically steerable antennas (ESAs), including Starlink’s phased array kit, can be efficiently integrated with the Dreamliner.
The so-called Boeing Aerodynamic Shroud is used to accommodate equipage of Starlink on 787s. It can house two ESAs within the same package — easily accommodating the two-antenna configuration favored by SpaceX for larger aircraft.
Celebrating its achievement, Qatar Airways touts that it’s the “first in the world to secure Starlink certification for Boeing 787-8.”
A scaled model of the Boeing Aerodynamic Shroud was showcased at the 2025 Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. Boeing Global Services is now fitting Starlink to 787 aircraft using the full-sized version of this Shroud. Image: Boeing
Qatar Airways recently completed Starlink equipage on its A350s and before that, its Boeing 777s. The installation of Starlink on three 787-8s brings the number of Starlink-fitted aircraft in the airline’s fleet to 120, representing over 58% of its widebody fleet.
“This progress cements the airline’s position as the global leader in Starlink-enabled long-haul and ultra-long-haul connectivity while also achieving the world’s first and largest Starlink-equipped A350 fleet — building on Qatar Airways’ legacy as the aircraft’s global launch customer,” says the carrier.
Qatar Airways’ in-house MRO team installed Starlink on the A350s. Image: Qatar Airways
Starlink has enjoyed robust take up in the world fleet. “In 2025, more than 1400 commercial aircraft, including over 80 A350s, the flagship airframe in many airlines’ fleets, were equipped with Starlink, which is nearly four times the number of planes on which Starlink was installed on in 2024,” SpaceX said in a year-end review.
In 2025, more than 21 million passengers experienced Starlink Internet in flight, including on Qatar Airways, United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JSX, WestJet, Air France, Emirates, Air New Zealand, airBaltic and more.
“These passengers used approximately 30 PB of data and experienced speeds of over 200 Mbps,” said SpaceX, noting that the terminals are installed “in just a few hours.”
Additionally, more than 1,000 business jets have been fitted with Starlink.
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Featured image credited to iStock.com/Fotokot197
