Elon Musk took to the skies virtually this week as he joined a video call aboard Qatar Airways’ first Starlink-enabled flight to showcase the inflight high-speed internet service. In a groundbreaking moment for air travel, Musk connected from his home to the airline’s CEO, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, during Flight QR1 from Doha to London Heathrow.

This marked the airline’s first use of Elon Musk’s Starlink network, providing internet speeds as high as 215 Mbps — faster than many home connections.

On board the Boeing 777, Business Insider reported seamless streaming, video calls, and even online gaming with Starlink’s WiFi, free for all passengers across cabin classes. This service is a notable upgrade from the airline’s standard $10 inflight WiFi, which delivers speeds of around 5 Mbps. The rollout is expected to be transformative for business travellers who rely on stable, fast internet to stay productive on long flights, overcoming the typical issues of slower, inconsistent inflight WiFi.

Qatar Airways has ambitious plans to expand Starlink, aiming to equip 12 Boeing 777-300s by the end of 2024 and cover its full fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A350s by next year. CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer demonstrated Starlink’s capabilities to Elon Musk himself, joining a video call from 38,000 feet in the air. “I’m on Starlink right now at my house,” Musk remarked, highlighting the technology’s flexibility.

Passengers on the Starlink-equipped flights so far have praised the connectivity, with Saad bin Ali Al-Kharji, Qatar Tourism’s chairman, even noting that the inflight internet felt more robust than his ground connection. Musk assured that Starlink’s quality will continue to improve, saying, “It’s only going to get better. We keep making improvements: We launch new satellites, and we keep improving the software. So over time, I think you’ll find it just gets better and better.”

As Qatar Airways takes a leading role in integrating Starlink, it joins Hawaiian Airlines as one of the first airlines to deploy the service. Carriers like United Airlines and Air France are also preparing to install Starlink on their flights.