Royal Air Maroc will begin installing SpaceX's Starlink in-flight wi-fi on 41 aircraft in early 2027, becoming the first African carrier to adopt the low-Earth orbit satellite service. The installation programme covers more than half of the Moroccan flag carrier's roughly 70-aircraft fleet. The airline has not specified which types will receive the equipment.

The service will be free of charge for members of the carrier's Safar Flyer loyalty programme, tying connectivity to a commercial lever rather than a paid add-on.

Royal Air Maroc operates a mixed fleet that includes Boeing 737 Max 8s, 787s and 737-800s, Embraer 190s and ATR 72-600s.

What sits behind the decision?

Chief executive Hamid Addou frames the Starlink agreement as one component of a broader investment programme rather than a standalone connectivity play. The decision, he said, is "part of a multi-year plan that includes fleet renewal, cabin redesign and a complete modernisation of the customer experience, both on the ground and in the air".

The carrier says placing next-generation connectivity "at the heart of its service offering" helps "lay the foundations for a more modern, competitive African aviation industry" — language that positions the deal as a competitive marker against Gulf and European rivals on routes across Africa and the North Atlantic.

Lauren Dreyer, vice-president of Starlink business operations at SpaceX, said: "By becoming the first airline on the continent to offer this technology, Royal Air Maroc will enable its passengers to enjoy the same high-speed, low-latency experience that is already transforming travel on other continents."

How does the deal fit Starlink's airline base?

The Royal Air Maroc agreement extends a customer list that has grown rapidly across North America and Europe. Starlink's existing airline customers include:

• Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, WestJet and charter operator JSX in North America;
• IAG, Lufthansa Group and Air Baltic in Europe.

SpaceX also signed a deal earlier this year with Indigo Partners covering more than 1,000 aircraft across five carriers the investment firm backs: Frontier Airlines, Mexico's Volaris, JetSmart in Latin America, Cebu Pacific in the Philippines and Wizz Air in Central Europe.

The African market, where Royal Air Maroc competes on connecting traffic across the continent, now enters that footprint for the first time.

Who is Starlink competing against?

Starlink is not the only LEO constellation chasing airline contracts. Amazon fields a rival LEO-only in-flight connectivity service that counts JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines among its customers. Both Amazon and SpaceX have been taking market share from incumbent satellite-based in-flight wi-fi providers, which have responded by offering multi-orbit services.

Luxembourg-based SES, for example, has developed an electronically-steered array antenna system that switches between Eutelsat's OneWeb LEO satellites and SES's own geostationary spacecraft to deliver low-latency global coverage. Mexico's Viva has committed to equipping 100 Airbus jets with the SES multi-orbit system.

What remains open?

Royal Air Maroc has not disclosed which of its 41 installations will go to widebodies versus narrowbodies and turboprops, nor the installation timeline beyond the early 2027 start. FlightGlobal has contacted the airline for further details.

The agreement gives SpaceX its first foothold on a continent where in-flight connectivity penetration remains low — and where the pace of Royal Air Maroc's fleet renewal will determine how quickly that footprint converts into equipped, revenue-generating aircraft.