British Airways Extends In-flight Entertainment
Now you can zone out the moment you step on the plane.
Over the years, airlines have made flying a little more bearable with the offering of in-flight entertainment. The addition of personal touchscreens for every passenger has meant you can select your own entertainment and are no long subjected the two or three family friendly in-flight movies. However, these screens are often switched off during take-off and landing, which means we're left to entertain ourselves during those periods.
However, it looks like those traveling British Airways don't have to worry about that anymore. Travel Daily Media reports that, following approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), passengers will be able to interact with their screens as soon as they board and continue to watch until the plane taxis at their destination.
"We know how much our customers enjoy our carefully selected in-flight entertainment so we’re delighted that now they’ll be able to pack even more of the programmes and films into their long-haul flights," Frank van der Post, director of brands and customer experience at BA, told Travel Daily Media.
All told, passengers should get an extra hour of film or TV thanks to this new change, which is expected to roll out on December 1.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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billybobser First of all I'm English,Reply
Second of all, British Airways are utter garbage. They're still flying planes outfitted with CRT's in the roof, the seats are awful (feels like two rods up your back) and the touchscreens in use must've been the first ones in existance.
Unless ofcourse they've saved the worst planes for flying long haul for 12 hours...
(In all honesty, I thought maybe that I was just unlucky, but after flying to China/Hong Kong numerous times, it's always the same.) -
memadmax Yay......Reply
Sounds like a gimmick to me... Seriously? An extra 5 minutes or so of video? Unless ur stuck on the tarmac of course but whatever dude... -
freggo "However, these screens are often switched off during take-off and landing, which means we're left to entertain ourselves during those periods."Reply
What is wrong with this planet? You need to be entertained 24/7 now?
Bring a book and READ something, talk to the person next to you (think of it as a sort of LIVE facebooking).
Look out the Window, you see something most people as of today still have not seen... the earth from higher and higher up.
..or check out the legs on the Flight attendants :-)
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spookie billybobserFirst of all I'm English, Second of all, British Airways are utter garbage. They're still flying planes outfitted with CRT's in the roof, the seats are awful (feels like two rods up your back) and the touchscreens in use must've been the first ones in existance.Unless ofcourse they've saved the worst planes for flying long haul for 12 hours...(In all honesty, I thought maybe that I was just unlucky, but after flying to China/Hong Kong numerous times, it's always the same.)Reply
I've flown with BA and had some great experiences( from South Africa to London and to Atlanta Ga), everybody had their own screen and seats were much better than most airlines
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A Bad Day *Looks around in the airplane for a power outlet because I was too cheap to buy two additional batteries for my laptop*Reply
"What do you mean the only power outlets are in the constantly-full bathrooms?" -
amk-aka-Phantom ReplyNow you can zone out the moment you step on the plane.
Not really. All airlines I've tried (Qatar, Emirates, Air India, etc.) have an extremely annoying PA system that will pause your movies and music for long-ass useless advertisement that I loathe. Then they'll replay it in three different languages (not sure how it's supposed to advertise anything... the only feeling I have after seeing the ad for 2nd time is desire to smack people who came up with it)... so the only entertainment system I trust onboard is my own tablet/laptop. No one will interfere with viewing content there. I don't believe that this new entertainment system BA will use will let us bypass all the in-flight announcement/ad BS. -
QEFX billybobserFirst of all I'm English, Second of all, British Airways are utter garbage.Reply
I've flown on BA several times, they're not perfect but much better than the crowded buss with wings that passes for flying in North America. You want a bad experience come to Canada and try the national disgrace of an airline known as Air Canada. -
skyjogger firstly I have no idea what this is on about, I have flown many times with different airlines and been able to watch things from on the tarmac before take off and until we are at the gate at the other end.Reply
to qefx Air Canada would have to be one of the best airline I have flown with, their domestic planes are the best I have been on and the only better plane ive been on was a QANTAS a380. that was only better because it was a brand new plane
I flew a BA 747 earlier in the year and that was the same as any other 747 out there. what governs how good the airline is, depends on the age of the plane and there are getting more and more new planes with good lay outs