On Monday, May 17, flight LH 452 from Munich to Los Angeles will usher in a new era in mobile communications….
On Monday, May 17, flight LH 452 from Munich to Los Angeles will usher in a new era in mobile communications. In a world premiere, Lufthansa passengers aboard the Airbus A340-300 D-AIGB `Recklinghausen` will be able to experience high-speed broadband Internet connectivity on a routine flight at cruising altitude. The aircraft is equipped with the Lufthansa FlyNet system, which in conjunction with services provided by Connexion by Boeing permits unrestricted in-flight Internet access with a laptop or other mobile terminals via wireless LAN (WLAN). Using the satellite connection provided by Connexion by Boeing, Lufthansa passengers can surf the Web, send e-mails with attachments or set up a secure data connection via a Virtual rivate Network (VPN) to their company`s Intranet or mail server.
Connexion by Boeing offers FlyNet users thirty minutes` Internet access for US $ 9.95, and an additional 25 cents per minute thereafter. The flat rate for an entire flight is US $ 29.95. Passengers will also gain access to the free FlyNet onboard internet portal, which contains over a thousand pages of constantly updated news, weather, travel and lifestyle information. The portal will also offer shopping possibilities, Lufthansa and Miles & More information. The technical development and operation of the FlyNet portal as well as the editorial content in German and English and the ad-selling of the portal are provided by TOMORROW FOCUS AG.
FlyNet has already been installed on five A340-300s. After the start of the service on the route Munich – Los Angeles further destinations, for example in Asia, will follow. By the spring of 2006 Lufthansa`s entire long-haul fleet of 80 Airbus A340, A330 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft will be equipped with the technology. Lufthansa Technik received the necessary civil aviation authority approval for all the system components, and also became the first aviation company worldwide to gain operational certification for a WLAN connection on an aircraft. Lufthansa Systems is responsible for developing the software for synchronizing the portal server onboard with the ground system.
Traffic to and from the aircraft is handled via geostationary communications satellites orbiting the earth at an altitude of 36,000 kilometres. The downstream channel will run at a speed of 5 megabits per second (Mbps), while upstream traffic will run at 1 Mbps, which is faster per user than ISDN. Last year a forerunner of the system passed a three-month test run on the Washington – Frankfurt route with flying colors.
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