Passengers on six different aircraft flying over five different continents will connect via Twitter to deliver the world’s first global in-flight ‘Tweetathon’ using Panasonic Avionics Corporation technology.

Using the hashtag #High5Live, the passengers will interact with each other – and their earth-bound Twitter followers – while on separate flights all across the globe.

The event will be unveiled at the opening day of the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg on Tuesday, April 9, where Panasonic will launch the Tweetathon as the six flights take to the skies.

The passengers will be onboard flights from New York to Sao Paulo; Frankfurt, Germany to Seattle Washington; Abu Dhabi, UAE to London; Dublin to New York; Tokyo to New York; and San Francisco to Sydney.

The ability to connect via Twitter is made possible by Panasonic’s eXConnect technology, which delivers high-speed wireless broadband for Internet and data services. This allows passengers to use social media, access the Internet, and send and receive emails mid-flight.

With Panasonic’s services, for the first time it is now possible for truly global communications between passengers to take place from an altitude of 35,000 feet. Passengers will use either their own personal devices such as computers, tablet computers, iPhone®* devices, BlackBerry®** smartphones and more to connect over the aircraft’s eXConnect Wi-Fi systems. Passengers also have the ability to surf the Internet, watch live sports, news and other content with Panasonic’s eXTV service, and send and receive email.

The Tweetathon will be launched at 10.00 hours Central European Time during the Aircraft Interiors Expo, where 8,000 attendees are expected.

David Bruner, Panasonic’s Vice President of Global Communications, said: “The Tweetathon is an exciting and innovative way to demonstrate just what is possible today from your seat on an aircraft. Airlines around the world are now embracing this technology and passengers are accepting it as second-nature.”

“This is a great world-first which we are proud to deliver. It shows we are well on the road to having global connectivity in the air that matches what can be achieved on the ground.”

The Twitter traffic from the passengers’ Tweets will be displayed on large screens in and around the Panasonic exhibition booth throughout the five hour Tweetathon.

Panasonic Avionics press release