The number of connected commercial aviation aircraft will surpass 21,000 by 2034, with the majority of the global fleet expected to be equipped with in-flight connectivity (IFC) systems by 2030.
A new era in the IFC market is now underway. Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations have moved to the forefront, rapidly emerging as the foundation of next-generation IFC services. Indeed, by the end of 2025, more than 700 commercial aircraft were actively using LEO-only or multi-orbit connectivity. This is according to a new report by Valour Consultancy, titled ‘The Future of In-Flight Connectivity – 2025’.
Starlink (SpaceX) has swiftly established itself as a major player, securing a wave of high-profile contracts over the past two years with airlines such as Emirates, International Airlines Group (IAG), United Airlines, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and others. As a result, Starlink has built a backlog of more than 5,000 committed commercial aircraft and will be scaling up installations further in 2026.
However, Starlink will not have things all its own way. Long-standing suppliers like Viasat, SES and Panasonic Avionics still collectively account for the lion’s share of the market, and they are responding to Starlink’s challenge by positioning multi-orbit services at the heart of their respective strategies.
SES has already connected hundreds of aircraft – primarily across Air Canada and American Airlines – to its solution, which uses Eutelsat’s OneWeb network for the LEO component. Panasonic is also using capacity from OneWeb, and has more recently added Spacesail as a future LEO option, while Viasat will integrate the Telesat Lightspeed LEO constellation into its portfolio starting in 2027.
Amazon is also generating plenty of excitement with the aptly named Amazon Leo network (formerly Project Kuiper). Satellite launches are ongoing and the company is aiming to have its first connected aircraft in service by 2027, with JetBlue Airways already announced as the launch airline customer.
Another key driver in the market is the shift toward mass adoption of free wi-fi. This has been building for some time, but there’s no doubt that Starlink positioning free wi-fi as the default option in its go-to-market strategy has played a big role in accelerating the trend.
This has created a domino effect across the airline industry. In May 2025, Air Canada switched on its complimentary wi-fi service for Aeroplan members (its loyalty programme) flying across North and Central America. Many others, such as Southwest (IFC from Anuvu and Viasat) and American Airlines (on aircraft equipped with IFC from Viasat and SES) have followed suit more recently.
Overall, the report concludes this is an exciting time for the IFC industry. As thousands of aircraft are transitioned onto next-generation services, commercial opportunities are aplenty. Moreover, the declining cost of data – partly thanks to an abundance of new capacity – will also encourage some unconnected airlines to consider IFC for the first time.
For a full table of contents, report scope and sample pages from Valour Consultancy’s report click here.
