Wi-Fi takes to the skies

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing will start making Wi-Fi available to airline passengers in the next couple of months.

German airline Lufthansa will be the first to launch the Connexion by Boeing service to give passengers in-flight virtual private network access to personal and work email accounts and intranets.

Boeing says that it plans to roll out the service to Scandinavian Airlines, Japan Airlines and ANA Airlines in coming months, with Singapore Airlines and China Airlines also expressing an interest.

British Airways trialled the service from February to May last year, but has yet to commit to a commercial rollout.

Passengers will also be able to access entertainment applications and an in-flight portal for customer service and support using the Wi-Fi system.

Boeing will offer two pricing options, including unmetered access for $29.95 on flights of more than six hours, $19.95 for flights between three and six hours and $14.95 for flights under three hours.

The metered pricing option costs $9.95 for the first 30 minutes and $0.25 per minute thereafter.

"[Connexion] will revolutionise the way people work, communicate and entertain themselves while mobile, and expands the choices they have for doing so," said David Friedman, vice president of marketing and corporate sales at Connexion by Boeing.