To print: Click here or Select File and then Print from your browser's menu

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: //0,,39120781,00.htm

Sky-high Wi-Fi finally gets off the ground
First Lufthansa flight with wireless broadband takes off...

By Jo Best

Published: Thursday 01 January 1970

Lufthansa's first Wi-Fi-enabled flight has taken to the skies, giving business passengers a chance to surf and fly at the same time.

The Munich to Los Angeles flight was the first to offer the service, although five of Lufthansa's Boeing aircraft are equipped with the service and the airline expects to have the technology in place in all its long-haul planes by the end of next year.

The first email sent on board the flight was from the VP of Connexion by Boeing – who runs the in-flight Wi-Fi service – David Friedman to his team on the ground. "Hello from 33,000 feet above Germany. The system is on and everything is A-OK," it read.

The service available to passengers, called FlyNet, will cost punters $10 for half an hour or $29.95 for the whole long-haul flight.

Japan Airlines, SAS and Korean Air are also getting ready to roll out broadband in the air.