> I'm confused by that move - why make it free when they could easily charge their captive audience for it?

My understanding is that it's actually a condition of using Starlink for commercial aviation. Every other airline that's announcing a partnership with Starlink is also providing it for free to customers.

IMO, it's a way for Starlink to put pressure on other satellite internet providers. The utilization of free wifi will be way higher than paid wifi. And the other networks - be it OneWeb, Viasat, Hughesnet, etc. don't have as much available bandwidth.

Next step is of course stop paying studios for movie licenses. Bring your own device and watch your own content, in 480p - bandwidth for full HD/4k is, naturally, extra.

Ultimately they might get away with ripping out the whole entertainment system out of the plane altogether for another .1% increase in efficiency.

Hook. And imagine the targeted ad revenue - where else do you have people with different spending powers strapped to a seat with nowhere to go? You have already given the flight operator your verified identification. Amazing new opportunity for data resellers.

making it free adds competitive pressure - other airlines might not have the available float to start adding it to theirs. This makes qatar airlines better, and thus attract more customers.