Lufthansa to offer wirelessly streamed content on medium-haul flights

[BERLIN] Germany's Lufthansa on Wednesday announced plans to offer wirelessly streamed movies to passengers on trans-European flights, sparking a clash over the future of traditional seatback systems at the world's largest travel fair.

Europe's largest traditional network carrier said that passengers on some medium-haul flights would be able to stream movies, TV programmes, music or games from an onboard server to their own portable devices or smartphones starting from the summer.

The scheme would be available on routes such as Europe to Russia, Middle East or North Africa, starting with 20 Airbus A321 aircraft, which carry about 220 people, the airline said.