German airline Lufthansa is relaunching its FlyNet in-flight broadband service. Lufthansa was the first to launch in-flight broadband in 2004, then powered by Boeing's Connexion system, which Boeing phased out in 2006. Now, in partnership with Panasonic Avionics, Lufthansa has announced that it will bring back FlyNet mid next year.

In the meantime, Lufthansa has found an innovative way to get its name pinged around the web. Through its free MySkyStatus service, fliers can sign up for flight status updates to be posted automatically to their Facebook or Twitter profiles. Available for flights on any airline, passengers enter their flight details and Facebook or Twitter login details beforehand, and MySkyStatus will post regular updates about their departure, altitude, location and arrival as they travel. Besides providing social media addicts with a cool new trick, MySkyStatus reminds us of FlightCaster for the helping hand it gives anyone expecting the arrival of a friend or coworker.

MySkyStatus taps into two growing consumer trends: the whole world is engaged in ongoing conversations that smart brands can be part of (foreverism), and 'real-time' is becoming an integral element of many products and services we use (nowism). In using this as a marketing tool (a short "powered by Lufthansa" is tacked on to every update), the airline smartly chose to open MySkyStatus to people flying with any airline, thereby initiating conversations that its competitors might not be part of.

Website : www.myskystatus.com

[springwise]