SpaceX has signed a major Starlink deal in South Korea as Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Air Busan, and Air Seoul, all part of the Hanjin Group of airlines, have announced they will equip their entire fleets with Starlink high-speed satellite internet.
According to the Hanjin Group, the rollout begins this year with testing and certification work, followed by the first passenger flights equipped with Starlink as early as Q3 2026. Full deployment across all fleets is expected by the end of 2027.
The country’s two largest carriers — Korean Air and Asiana Airlines — will begin with their long-haul aircraft, including the Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-900. Jin Air will target its latest Boeing 737-8 aircraft first, while Air Busan and Air Seoul are still finalizing installation priorities across their narrow-body fleets.
The Hanjin Group is the latest to join a fast-growing shift across global aviation. More than a dozen carriers worldwide are already using Starlink or preparing fleetwide rollouts. Hawaiian Airlines and Latvia’s airBaltic were among the first movers, bringing fast, free Wi-Fi to every passenger across their Airbus fleets. United Airlines has begun offering Starlink service on select regional and mainline jets in the U.S., with gradual expansion underway.
In Canada, WestJet was the first to adopt Starlink, while rival Air Canada has gone with a different solution – selecting Starlink for their smaller regional fleet, while going with Eutelsat for their mainline fleet.
Meanwhile in the Middle East, Qatar Airways has already equipped a significant share of its long-haul fleet with Starlink, while Emirates is in the midst of a program to upgrade more than 200 Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, creating one of the largest Starlink-enabled fleets in the world by 2027.
Most recently, Europe’s International Airlines Group (IAG) — which includes British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL, and Vueling — plans to outfit more than 500 aircraft starting next year.
The announcement by Hanjin Group comes just one day after Starlink launched their service in South Korea.
