“This is your Captain speaking, you may now open your laptops and browse the internet freely,” will soon be heard aboard Qantas airline flights.

The Australian airliner has announced that the new Airbus A380s will come equipped with several amenities for the technophile traveler that likes to be connected to the Internet at all time. Wifi internet access will be available throughout the plane, even in economy, and the ability to send instant messages and emails through the seat-back entertainment centers will be offered for those who do not have a laptop.

Worry not if you realize that your laptop is about to die because Qantas will also offer laptop power in every seat of the A380 and in premium economy seating that will be available early next year in retrofitted Boeing 747-400s. Premium economy seats will also feature USB and Ethernet ports for viewing content on seat-back systems and connecting to the internet if your laptop does not include a WiFi card or you prefer a wired connection.

The exact specifications of the USB feature has not been revealed so it's still up in the air as to if you will be able to connect your iPod or view Divx videos through the seat-backs. Expect to pay more, however, for those premium economy seats as they will cost about half the price of current business class tickets with first class tickets ranging even higher.

First class ticket holders should expect to have the same features as the economy customers but with added features available to each of them. A 17” wide-screen LCD TV will be a part of every first class seat and business class seats will receive a “large” monitor with laptop connectivity.

Willing to pay more to have the internet at your fingertips during those long flights or will you just stick to your regular airline? Discuss it in the forums.