Lufthansa Readies Broadband in Flight

For busy corporate globetrotters, the days of killing time in airport lounges and on board jumbo jets appear numbered. The German airline Lufthansa is about to launch a new wireless broadband Internet service targeting executives and other heavy data users both on the ground and in the air.

On January 15, Lufthansa will offer broadband Internet service on a Boeing 747-400 that flies daily between Frankfurt International Airport and the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., said airline spokesperson Bernd Hoffmann. In the first quarter of 2003, the airline company will also begin providing wireless LAN (WLAN) service in more than 50 lounges, according to Hoffmann.

"Our aim is to offer broadband connectivity to passengers on all our long-haul flights outside of Europe and in our many lounges around the world," he said. "We expect substantial demand for the service."

Your Speed May Vary

Connexion by Boeing, a unit of The Boeing Company, will provide the satellite-based data communications service in the air. Vodafone Group will provide the WLAN service on the ground.

The in-flight broadband service will offer speeds of up to 20 megabits per second to the aircraft and 1 Mbps from the aircraft, although the speeds can vary due to weather and other factors, according to Terrance Scott, a Connexion spokesperson.

"At the very minimum, customers should have ISDN speeds of 64 Kbps, but most of the time speeds will be much higher," said Hoffmann.

The WLAN service will be available at speeds up to 11 Mbps, he said.

First-class and business-class travelers will be able to plug their notebooks directly into the aircraft's onboard LAN with cables and sockets integrated into their seats or, alternatively, use a wireless connection, according to Hoffmann. Economy-class passengers will only be able to connect to the system with WLAN-equipped notebooks.

More Surfing to Come

Lufthansa plans to test the onboard Internet service for at least three months, during which time the service will be available for free. Initially, the WLAN service will also be free. None of the companies provided pricing details.

"We need to see how both technologies work and get a feel for what customers are willing to pay," Hoffmann said. "Whether we charge for each service separately or together and how we will brand and market the service are issues we still have to resolve," Hoffmann said. "But I can say that we are planning a fair amount of integration to make the service as convenient as possible."

Lufthansa has forged ahead with its plans to offer Internet connectivity on board its aircraft despite last year's decision by Connexion's three primary airline partners to abandon the venture. The former partners, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, withdrew their financial support after they incurred severe financial losses following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Meanwhile, Connexion has enlisted several other airline customers, including British Airways, Japan Airlines, and Scandinavian Airlines System. British Air plans to roll out Internet service aboard its aircraft in February.