With satellite TV and Internet access on aircraft LHT affirms its market lead
Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) is the first company in the world to equip an aircraft for live TV reception round the globe and on-board access to the Internet and e-mail.
“With this unique innovation we have created all the conditions for offering our customers full solutions from the end of 2001. We hope that the first providers will then make more Internet data available via new broadband satellites,” said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik.
The system, which is capable of receiving more than 400 TV programmes worldwide and was first installed on an Airbus A340 for a private customer, was certificated by Europe`s Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The package contains all the technical solutions currently available to enable passengers to surf online and also receive and send e-mails. The new on-board communications service is made possible by high-speed satellites with a transmission speed of more than five megabits per second. Increasingly these are replacing older-generation, low-speed satellites and provide greater ease of access to the Internet.

On the Airbus which has just been fitted out by Lufthansa Technik a highly advanced antenna is connected to the electronic on-board and entertainment systems. Lufthansa Technik engineers developed and licensed this system for use on aircraft in collaboration with specialists from the industry. The system also includes a reception decoder for all 400 TV channels used worldwide, the corresponding user interfaces and large-format 42-inch plasma displays.

A wireless LAN computer network, developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and Condor and tested in operation, and advanced antenna technology which is capable not only of sending but also receiving data from the end of 2001 round off the hi-tech package for in-flight Internet surfing. The system installed on the Airbus A340 responded excellently during comprehensive test flights over Europe, the Arab region and the United States.
“The installation of live TV systems is now a standard component of Lufthansa Technik`s product portfolio. All the important preconditions for Internet use on board have now been created,” Wolfgang Mayrhuber stressed. “Through its experience and innovative solutions Lufthansa Technik has once again provided a key impetus for the integration and certification of innovative technologies on board aircraft. With our concrete products and services we can offer future-oriented solutions for the airline industry and our customers,” Mayrhuber added.

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