News: Qatar Airways Rolls Out Live Satellite Television
Flights > News > # 924 (25/08/2006)
Qatar Airways has become one of the first international airlines in the world to introduce live digital satellite TV beamed direct to every passenger on their seatback TV systems. A host of European and Middle East TV channels, including BBC World, CNN, Eurosport and Al Jazeera, will be available on five of the Doha based airline’s Airbus A330 long-haul aircraft serving routes between the Middle East and Europe. By the end of the year, 14 aircraft, including the airline’s brand new Airbus A340-600, will be equipped with the new Rockwell Collins Tailwind 560 satellite television system. A further ten aircraft will be equipped with the service during 2007. Qatar Airways' chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said onboard live satellite television was an initiative that differentiated Qatar Airways from its competitors. Mr Al Baker said: “We have been successfully trialling live TV for sometime and are extremely pleased to be able to now offer this wonderful, unique service to passengers on selected aircraft. As a key player in the Middle East and international aviation market, Qatar Airways always commits itself to the highest standards of inflight entertainment and onboard amenities.” He added: “In this day and age of long-haul international travel, passengers are becoming more demanding and are flying in an environment where there is more choice. We continue to look at ways to improve our service levels to passengers and, by offering a variety of entertainment options, we also set new standards of comfort to ensure we are the airline of choice.”
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Comment by Mark Avery, Flightmapping editor:
‘Live’ television on flights is certainly the way forward, offering a great escape from the tedium of having to watch repeats of Keeping Up Appearances or deathly dull Tom Hanks movies. With further security clampdowns likely to become a recurring problem – involving passengers having to put their iPODs, laptops and reading material into the hold – airlines, especially those offering long-haul services, are going to have to improve the in-flight entertainment they offer.
Despite the spiel in the Qatar Airways press release, they are not the first international airline to try out such a scheme. American carrier JetBlue already offer Direct TV (the US equivalent of Sky Digital) on all their flights – with 36 television channels and over 100 radio stations to choose from.
Other airlines are sure to follow suit in the future – the technology is obviously available. The only stumbling block appears to be securing the licensing agreements from broadcasters. The television executives must be rubbing their hands with glee! I usually like to bury my head in a good book on a long flight (especially if I don’t get a window seat), but the prospect of being able to watch live football suddenly makes the prospect of the long trek to Sydney or Los Angeles a whole lot more appealing.
