Finding the X factor: Who needs wifi at 30,000 feet, and who will pay for it?

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary during a press conference at The Mayson Hotel, Dublin, after tech billionaire Elon Musk floated the idea of buying the budget airline. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

A social-media feud between Elon Musk and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary over the cost of fitting Starlink's WiFi service has reignited a long-running debate in aviation: who really needs internet at 30,000 feet - and who is willing to pay for it?

For long-haul carriers chasing premium travellers with loyalty perks, video calls and seamless streaming are fast becoming non-negotiable. But for short-haul and budget airlines like Ryanair, the economics look less compelling.

Musk may deride O'Leary as an "utter idiot" for refusing to bolt his Starlink service onto Ryanair's 600-plus jets, but the blunt-speaking O'Leary - who built Europe's biggest airline by squeezing out every avoidable cost - almost certainly isn't.

"You wouldn't expect to be on Ryanair and get the sort of passenger experience you would get on a long-haul flight," said David Whelan, an analyst at Valour Consultancy.

"If your focus is on just running that really solid A to B service and doing so at the lowest cost point, then it doesn't necessarily have to include WiFi."

Soaring demand for premium travel since the pandemic - paired with faster, more reliable satellite links - has spurred wider adoption. Over the past year, Lufthansa, Scandinavian carrier SAS, and Virgin Atlantic have signed up to Starlink or rivals Viasat and Intelsat.

'If you want to attract American customers, you have no choice'

"Particularly on the transatlantic (route) and in the United States, it is becoming a cost of doing business, and not a question," Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith told Reuters.

"If you want to attract American customers, you have no choice but to have a high-speed wi-fi. None. It's almost like a hotel."

Wifi will be available across the Aer Lingus fleet later this year after the airline's owner IAG announced an agreement with Starlink. International Airlines Group said the deal will bring Starlink-enabled high-speed wi-fi connectivity on Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Level, and Vueling aircraft, with the first aircraft due to go live with the service in early 2026 "with download and upload speeds as good or better than home connectivity".

Starlink's lower-orbit satellites give it an edge, analysts say, reducing delays and enabling continuous video calls and streaming. "I believe right now that Starlink is the gold standard," SAS chief executive Anko van der Werff, who recently signed his airline up to the service, told Reuters.

But it doesn't come cheap.

Valour Consultancy's Whelan estimates the price at roughly $170,000 per aircraft, depending on the airline, before hardware and installation.

For long-haul airlines, the investment could fit neatly into a "freemium" strategy - premium passengers get free access, and everyone else is nudged into loyalty programmes. "The whole market is kind of shifting to a 'freemium' model," Whelan said, adding that Starlink was helping drive this trend.

Starlink's owner SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment about pricing.

 For low-frills, short-hop airlines, however, the cost-benefit balance looks different.

O'Leary says wiFi antennas add weight to planes and increase drag - aerodynamic resistance - which in turn increases fuel costs.

Musk shot back on X saying the drag was negligible and made a tongue-in-cheek threat to buy Ryanair and replace its CEO.

O'Leary, though, is also sceptical that price-conscious passengers would pay even a modest fee of €1 to €2   for onboard wiFi, particularly on short flights.

"Our experience, sadly, tells us we think less than 10% of our passengers would pay for this access, and therefore we can't afford to shoulder cost of between $150 or $250m a year," O'Leary told reporters this week.

"The only way we can see Starlink working on board our aircraft on short-haul flights is if you give it away for free."