In-Flight Internet Service Ready for Takeoff

British Airways is the second European airline after Lufthansa to agree to test a high-speed Internet service for aircraft supplied by Boeing.

BA will test the Internet-in-the-sky technology, called Connexion by Boeing, for a period of three months beginning in February 2003, Boeing said Thursday.

The service uses satellites positioned 20,000 miles high to send and receive data from transceivers mounted on airplanes traveling at 560 miles per hour. The in-flight broadband technology will allow travelers to use their notebooks to surf the Web, send e-mail, or even view live TV broadcasts.

Lufthansa, which agreed to test the in-flight Internet technology, plans a "live trial" in January 2003, a company spokesperson says.

"We have meanwhile equipped a 747 airplane, named Sachsen-Anhalt, with the satellite transceiver and other gear and are now waiting for Boeing to provide seamless satellite coverage across the Atlantic," the spokesperson says. "At present, the company can't offer us this."

Trans-Atlantic Access

Initially, Lufthansa plans to offer in-flight Internet service on its Frankfurt-Washington route, the spokesman says.

Seattle, Washington, airplane manufacturer Boeing is currently in talks with satellite operators to acquire transponder capacity and with radio frequency officials to receive licenses for sending and receiving data over the airwaves, a spokesperson for Boeing in Hamburg says.

"We expect to have the necessary satellite capacity and radio usage licenses in the coming months," the spokesperson says.

Connexion by Boeing has not had a smooth takeoff. Aside from the delay in securing trans-Atlantic satellite capacity and radio licenses, in November 2001 the service lost its first three airline partners. The partners, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, withdrew their financial support, citing severe financial losses following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.