Virgin Atlantic plans to take mid-air Wi-fi connectivity to a whole new level, the Tech Herald reports. Its revamped Red in-Flight Entertainment system, which is set to be integrated into seat back systems onboard certain Virgin aircraft during 2012, has been built on Lufthansa’s BoardConnect platform and will provide passengers with instant Wi-Fi access and a raft of other services.

Passengers can look forward to receiving touch-screen access to live satellite television, cached specialty channels, more than 30 on-demand movies, premium TV channels such as HBO, video games, seat-to-seat chat, in-flight shopping, and an MP3 library containing 3000 tracks.

Although it remains to be seen how much Wi-Fi freedom Virgin will deliver, Tech Herald suggests passengers equipped with or without compatible mobile devices will be able to use their email accounts and social networks directly through Red.