[SatNews] Panasonic and Lufthansa are now offering broadband Internet access on long-haul routes, with diverse billing options, with service provider Deutsche Telekom.

Lufthansa passengers travelling on long-haul flights can now once again enjoy the full freedom of online communication. Together with its long-standing partners Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa will be the first airline to offer its customers broadband Internet access on intercontinental routes. The service, which will initially be provided on selected North Atlantic routes, will be available on nearly the entire Lufthansa intercontinental network by the end of 2011.

The extremely fast, high-performance inflight Internet service gives passengers with a WLAN-enabled laptop or smartphone unlimited online access. Thanks to the high bandwidth, emails can be sent and received without any time delay. Business travellers can also access their company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN). In spring 2011, inflight data communication should also be possible using the mobile phone standards GSM and GPRS. In addition to the wireless Internet (WLAN) service, Lufthansa customers will then be able to use their mobile phones to send and receive SMS text messages and transfer data with smart phones such as the iPhone or PDAs such as BlackBerry. FlyNet is incredibly easy to use. Passengers, no matter where they are sitting on the aircraft, can logon to the Internet with any WLAN-enabled device, just as at any public hotspot, or in the near future, set up a connection with a GSM/GPRS-enabled device. After opening the browser, they can automatically access the exclusive, free Lufthansa FlyNet portal, where they will find constantly updated news about economics, politics, sports and entertainment. Thanks to the introductory FlyNet offer, inflight Internet access will be available for free on FlyNet-equipped aircraft until January 31, 2011.