Casablanca-based Royal Air Maroc has committed to installing Starlink on 41 of its aircraft, with installations expected to begin in early 2027. That makes it the first airline in Africa to sign up for SpaceX's satellite internet service, which until now has been the preserve of carriers in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Here's the deal for passengers: Wi-Fi will be free, but only for members of the airline's Safar Flyer loyalty programme. Membership is free to join, so there's no real barrier — though the airline hasn't clarified whether you'll need your frequent flyer number attached to the booking to unlock it. Royal Air Maroc currently offers no onboard internet at all, so this is a genuine leap rather than an upgrade.
Starlink's appeal is speed. Because it's low-latency satellite broadband, it behaves like a decent home connection: you can stream video, take video calls, game, and work much as you would on the ground. The service runs gate to gate, so there's no waiting for cruise altitude. United Airlines is currently fitting around 20 planes a week with the hardware, so installations can be fast — though a smaller carrier like Royal Air Maroc will likely take longer to work through its 41 aircraft, and no completion date has been given.
Which planes? The fleet numbers roughly 70 aircraft: ATR 72-600 turboprops, Embraer E190s, Boeing 737-800s, 737 MAX 8s and 787 Dreamliners. The sensible guess is that every Dreamliner and every MAX 8 gets Starlink, plus a handful of older 737-800s — that gets you to about 41. Short-haul ATRs and Embraers presumably miss out.
It's a notable move for an airline that otherwise hasn't prioritised the passenger experience. Royal Air Maroc has no next-generation aircraft on order (just two second-hand E190s), and its Dreamliner business class cabins come in at least four different configurations thanks to a mix of factory builds and second-hand acquisitions. Against that backdrop, a fleet-wide connectivity rollout is a pleasant surprise — and CEO Hamid Addou framed it as bringing the airline up to international standards.
For travellers, the practical impact is on routes to and from Casablanca, which is Royal Air Maroc's hub for Europe, West Africa and North America connections. Long-haul flights to New York, Washington, Montreal or São Paulo on a 787, or busy intra-Africa and European sectors on the 737s, are the flights most likely to benefit. Free, fast internet on a roughly seven-hour hop to the US East Coast is genuinely useful, and it removes one of the main arguments for paying up elsewhere.
If you're booking Royal Air Maroc from 2027 onwards, sign up for Safar Flyer before you fly — it costs nothing and will likely be your ticket to free Wi-Fi. Just keep in mind the rollout will be gradual, so don't expect connectivity on every flight in the first months.
