Europe’s inflight WiFi divide – strategy, cost and the battle for the connected passenger

Europe's airlines have installed WiFi internet connectivity for passengers on 21% of their short/medium haul jets and 24% of their narrowbodies, according to the CAPA Fleet Database.

Among Europe's top 30 European narrowbody operators, WiFi is available on 29% of aircraft. Turkish Airlines has the biggest European fleet of WiFi-enabled narrowbodies.

However, the low cost airlines Ryanair, Pegasus Airlines and easyJet - all major narrowbody operators - have no onboard internet connectivity.

Where internet access is available on European flights, the most common approach is for airlines to charge for it, while many also offer free messaging.

Free access for all passengers is rare on European flights. However, KLM is now rolling out free WiFi to loyalty scheme members (and facilitating onboard scheme registration).

The high speed, high bandwidth, Starlink WiFi service owned by Elon Musk is currently available on only 48 European short/medium haul aircraft. Ryanair's decision not to install Starlink recently led to a public spat between group CEO Michael O'Leary and the world's richest man.

Nevertheless, Starlink is growing among existing customers and has won recent orders from British Airways and Lufthansa Group.