Frankfurt - Lufthansa said Monday it is to re-introduce paid web access for passengers, three years after the German airline shut down a previous service it considered uneconomic to operate.

Passengers on intercontinental flights will be able, for a fee, to connect their laptop computers via satellite to the internet.

The airline said a contract had been signed by Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber and Panasonic Avionics Corporation chief Paul Margis.

Lufthansa is to initially install the service on 50 jets, with availability beginning in the second half of 2010. The statement gave no details of how much it was investing or how high the charges for passengers would be.

Till the end of 2006, Boeing's internet on board service was available in some Lufthansa jets, but the airline said it did not pay its way. (dpa)