Long haul flights are tedious at the best of times, but if you've often wished that you could surf the net mid-flight then your prayers are close to being answered.

Qantas recently announced their intention to supply Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet connections on their new Airbus A380s and revamped Boeing 747-400s. And best of all, they'll also be providing power sockets so you can leave those heavy spare batteries at home.

Lufthansa have followed suit by promising to rollout high-speed internet access across all its long haul flights by 2008. PDA and Smartphone owners aren't left out either as there will be provisions for GSM text messaging and wireless email as well as, we presume, ethernet connections for laptops.

There's no mention of the costs involved for using either airlines' facilities, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that they won't be sky high.

Update: One of our readers has emailed to suggest that Singapore Airlines should be commended for offering in-flight Wi-Fi and power sockets since 2004. It turns out Singapore Airlines charged just $12 US dollars for the service between London and Singapore!

If the Wikipedia entry on the matter is to be trusted then Lufthansa were actually the first to take advantage of Boeing's 'Connexion' technology back on May 17, 2004 with Singapore Airlines following suit sometime in early 2005. However, Boeing officially ended their consumer service at the end of 2006 claiming that "the market for this service has not materialized as had been expected." We're not sure whose equipment will be powering the new Wi-Fi services, but we'll be keeping a close eye on any develpoments. 

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