Inflight Internet has proved a hit with Lufthansa AG passengers. The airline, which is the world’s first to offer onboard broadband, launched the service on its flights between Frankfurt and Washington in January.
The three-month internet trial has met with a positive reception, with an average of 50-80 passengers per flight accessing the internet simultaneously. The airline has also recently gained approval from the Federal Aviation Office to allow wireless broadband access onboard its aircraft, which was made available to its customers in the last few days of the trial.
Lufthansa reports that its customers have been happy with the service, which offers connectivity speeds somewhere between those offered by integrated services digital network (ISDN) and digital subscriber line (DSL). Overall 95 per cent of users rated the FlyNet service as “good to excellent”, according to the airline.
Since this early trial has proved such a success Lufthansa plans to roll it out to all its Boeing 747-400, Airbus A330 and A340 long-range aircraft from mid-2004 onwards.