50mb broadband in the air? On Cathay Pacific? By 2012? Nice!

I came across this post by Emma over at Gizmag who reports that the airline Cathay Pacific is planning to launch 50mb broadband connectivity to passengers by 2012.

This week, the airline confirmed an agreement with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to provide broadband access across its entire fleet, as well as call and data access for cell phones.

With the improved communications system installed, future passengers will be able to access the web during flights using their own devices and seatback screens.

I haven’t flown Cathay Pacific before, but I am most certainly liking the concept of 50mb broadband speeds when I’m in the air, especially on a long-haul flight where I might want to do a bit of work online. I wonder just how fast this service would actually be in a live environment? Could you, for instance, actually download a 1.5GB iTunes movie in 10 minutes?

That would be rather swish.