Cathay Pacific Has Big News: In-Flight WiFi and iPad Connectivity to Come

July 8, 2010 at 9:03 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

Whoa. Just when we start to get used to using In-Flight WiFi on our cross-country USA flights and think that's way cool, more connectivity announcement come out to blow our minds. We're talking about long-haul in-flight WiFi, like using the internet while flying at 40,000 feet somewhere over the Pacific between New York and Tokyo, and it's totally coming soon to airlines.

The latest carrier to jump onboard the long-haul WiFi bandwagon is Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, who plan to roll out broadband internet onboard all of their regular and Dragonair fleet starting in early 2012. They'll be partnering up with the same folks working to make long-haul internet on Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa a reality too—and that's Panasonic. But the fun won't stop at just the internet...

The Cathay Pacific fleet will launch an eXconnect in-flight entertainment system along with the internet, and note how it will be accessible:

The Panasonic Avionics connectivity solution for Cathay Pacific will comprise the eXConnect broadband service, eXPhone GSM phone service, and a CX-branded free-of-charge entertainment portal - accessible through all passenger devices and seatback screens - that will include a range of content updated during the flight, access to airline and partner sites, e-commerce, airline-specific advertising, and live television with a unique pay-per-view capability for special events.

There it is! The phrase "accessible through all passenger devices" is perhaps some of the biggest news of the whole deal. Does this mean that Cathay Pacific will allow passengers to hook their digital accessories into the system? Yep! Straight from the press release: "...it allows passengers to use their mobile phones, smart phones and BlackBerry devices onboard to make voice calls, send SMS text messages or utilise data services and stream content wirelessly to their iPod, iPhone and iPad."

If there's one thing we love more than hopping a direct, 13-hour flight from New York to Hong Kong, it's being able to make those 13 hours breeze by, and surely this is the way (so long, in-flight game version of the British 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire!') Now let's just hope that Cathay—and the other airlines with plans for long-haul in-flight WiFi—can make their—and our and your—dreams come true sooner rather than later.

[Photo of Cathay plane at HKG: Jaunted]

Jaunted

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