Kazakh airlines are preparing to introduce satellite internet on board. The first planes with network access could appear by the end of 2026. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Earlier, the government announced plans to connect aircraft to satellite internet. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was named as the first aircraft for the technology.
According to Temirlan Zinalabdin, CEO of Freedom Cloud, the development of in-flight internet has long been hampered by the high cost of equipment and satellite communication limitations. The situation changed with the emergence of low-orbit satellite constellations that provide higher speed and lower signal latency.
According to him, major global carriers are already making internet part of the basic service. For example, Qatar Airways has completed installing Starlink on its Boeing 777 aircraft and has begun equipping Airbus A350 and Boeing 787. United Airlines also plans to provide internet across its entire fleet.
The expert believes that on-board connectivity is needed not only for passengers. It allows airlines to quickly inform customers about connections and delays, as well as faster transmission of technical data to ground services for aircraft maintenance.
At the same time, the main issue remains the economics of the project. Equipping a new aircraft with internet is much easier than modernizing an existing one. Therefore, the expert calls the phased introduction of the technology the most likely scenario – first on new long-haul aircraft, then on the rest of the fleet.
"In a few years, the question will no longer be: 'Is there internet on board?' Passengers will ask how fast it is, whether it is included in the ticket price, and why a particular airline is still unable to provide it," Zinalabdin believes.
Earlier, based on promises from the Ministry of Transport, Kursiv wrote that internet should appear on Kazakh aircraft by the end of 2026.