Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) will Tuesday start offering The Boeing Co.’s in-flight Internet service on flights between Tokyo and New York, the first time the service will be available for transpacific travel, the airline said on Monday.

The Connexion by Boeing service will be initially available on alternate days on flights JL005/JL006, with the service becoming available daily by the end of June, according to Geoffrey Tudor, a spokesman for the airline.

Connexion by Boeing is a satellite-delivered data service that enables airline passengers to access the Internet via wireless LAN-compatible PCs.

The connection speed is typically about 5M bps (megabits per second) downstream from the Internet to the aircraft, and 1M bps upstream from the aircraft to the Internet. The service supports e-mail, Web browsing, and corporate network access via a VPN (virtual private network), among other features, according to JAL.

Access will be available throughout the aircraft and will cost US$29.95 throughout the flight, or for $9.95 for the first 30 minutes and $0.25 for each additional minute, JAL said. A $10 discount will be available until July 15, 2005, the airline said. (full article here)

The Emissary Take Away: With the growing ubiquity of web access, firms who choose to ignore the accessibility of their websites, intranets or extranets on different devices may find themselves trailing the field - although timing is everything! It’s also clear that the Asian market is once again taking steps forward and providing new models of interraction that we can all learn from.