Lufthansa Passengers Get First Ever Free Internet Above the Clouds (News Release)   5/23/2005 - 648 views,

HANOI and HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — To
celebrate its first year of operation Lufthansa is offering passengers free
internet access above the clouds with the airline’s FlyNet(R) technology
launched commercially on 17th May 2004 on the Munich - Los Angeles route.
FlyNet(R) debuted on the Frankfurt - Tokyo route a month later, setting a
trend that has had other airlines scrambling to introduce similar services.

Lufthansa passengers will enjoy free FlyNet(R) access from 17-23 May. The
service, offered together with Connexion by Boeing, is available to and from
almost all of Lufthansa’s 19 Asia-Pacific destinations with more than 42 out
of 80 aircraft in the long-haul fleet already equipped with the state-of-the-
art technology.

In addition to being first in the world with onboard internet, Lufthansa
also pioneered the technology in Asia-Pacific and has developed a dense
network offering comprehensive connectivity across the region on the majority
of its 149 weekly flights.

Customer satisfaction is almost 100 percent. According to a study
recently presented by Connexion by Boeing about 93 percent of around 625 users
questioned are satisfied or very satisfied with the online service above the
clouds. The FlyNet Service consists of both the free Lufthansa FlyNet (R)
portal with comprehensive news, travel information and shopping facilities, as
well as Internet access provided by the partner and service provider Connexion
by Boeing. Via this access, passengers can surf in the WWW, send and receive
e-mails with attachments and access their company’s own Intranet (Virtual
Private Network) while on board. The connection is made with the own laptop
computer without the need for a cable via Wireless LAN (WLAN).

Thus, business travellers, in particular, can make even more productive
use of their flying time. They have, on the one hand, all the latest
information and research facilities; at the same time, the full range of
entertainment is also at their disposal. An excellent culinary service
perfectly rounds off the stay on board Lufthansa.

“From our customers, I know how valuable this service is, particularly for
business travellers,” emphasizes Thierry Antinori, Vice-President Marketing
and Sales of Lufthansa German Airlines. This is confirmed by the survey in
which meanwhile 85 percent of respondents say that the availability of high-
speed Internet will have an influence on the choice of an airline in future.
“Our partnership with Lufthansa is strong, customer-oriented and has the
objective of making optimal Internet access possible for the passengers,” says
David Friedman, Vice-President Marketing and Direct Sales of Connexion by
Boeing. “Passengers make use of the all-in-one functionality of Internet
access at an altitude of 10,000 metres in a variety of ways”.

FlyNet(R) is already available on every second Lufthansa long-haul flight,
in total 42 long-range aircraft have been equipped with the corresponding
satellite technology. With the progressive retrofitting, in recent months the
availability of the service has been extended particularly on the routes to
the USA and to Asia. Passengers can access information on current
availability on the FlyNet (R) information pages at http://www.lufthansa.com .