Why wait for landing? Make that important call while you’re above the clouds. From the introduction of satellite phones in the 1980s to the development of high-speed internet today, the Lufthansa Group airlines have always been pioneers in providing in-flight connectivity solutions. After all, you still want to get things done in the air, right?
Flight connectivity: From satellite telephones to high-speed internet
Calling from the air
Staying connected above the clouds has always been a business travel need, but in the 1980s, you had to use dedicated on-board telephones to make a call mid-flight. For example, in the early 1980s Lufthansa introduced a satellite-based system to offer in-flight calls. With the rise of mobile phones, those systems quietly started to disappear. In the early 1990s, services such as Rent-a-Phone emerged as a direct response, providing business travelers with mobile phones. Renting a phone—very hard to imagine nowadays.
Going online on board
Sending emails from an airplane! That was an impressive headline from Lufthansa in early 2003. The context was a pilot program that Lufthansa conducted with Lufthansa Technik and the service provider Connexion by Boeing from 2001 to 2003. The main objective was to provide broadband internet to travelers on board. As you probably know, the project was very successful, and the name of the service has stuck to this day: FlyNet®.
High-speed at high altitudes
Since 2003, internet access on board has undergone many changes and constant improvements. Today, you can enjoy free messaging on many Lufthansa Group flights. This is useful if you want to notify your contacts at the airport that you’re about to arrive. Depending on how much internet access you need while traveling, you can also book various internet packages for your flight. The key word is individuality.
Looking to the future, the Lufthansa Group plans to equip its approximately 850 aircraft with high-speed broadband internet access, in partnership with the internet provider Starlink.
