Los Angeles, CA | September 9, 2019– BBC Global News – the BBC’s commercial, international news arm – has announced the results of new research into the global appetite for inflight connectivity. It found that frequent flyers have substantial interest in staying connected while on a flight and are prepared to pay more for it.
Titled ‘Slipstream’, the research was commissioned by BBC Global News and conducted by independent research consultancy MTM, it was revealed today at the APEX EXPO in California. It shows that almost two thirds (63%) of regular travellers consider access to Wi-Fi important when booking a flight and 69% say it would significantly improve their inflight experience, with the main reasons being the desire to communicate, to be entertained and to keep up to date with what’s happening around the world.
The survey highlights a number of
commercial benefits for connected airlines including increased consideration in the mind of the customer because of a better inflight
experience and an improved reputation, particularly in terms of being seen as innovative, modern and exciting.
In addition, 62% of respondents said that they would be more likely to choose an airline if live TV was available – a figure which rose to 78% for business class travellers and 89% for first class passengers. Significantly, travellers consistently reported a willingness to pay more for it, with over half of those surveyed happy to pay 5% on top of their standard fare, and a third prepared to pay an additional 20%.
The specific TV and news brands an airline opted for also had a discernible impact on consumer perception, with almost half of respondents more likely to travel with an airline offering BBC World News, rising to two-thirds of first class travellers.
Zina Neophytou, Vice President of Out of Home at BBC Global News, said, ‘As bandwidth to aircraft increases, there are growing opportunities for airlines to offer passengers an enhanced inflight
experience. Our research demonstrates a resounding consumer demand for connectivity and access to live news programming while in the air. As airlines’ capacity grows, we look forward to our continued delivery of BBC World News’s unique blend of innovative, impartial journalism.
London, UK | September 1, 2016– From 1 September 2016, Heathrow Express passengers will be kept up to date with a new BBC World News onboard service, which will provide one-minute news and business bulletins on the 15-minute journey to and from Heathrow and Paddington.
The bulletins will be delivered through the existing Express TV service, which are positioned on screens throughout First and Express Class on Heathrow Express trains, which depart from Paddington on average every 15 minutes.
At weekends, the award-winning global news channel’s travel and technology programmes The Travel Show and Click will be shown.
Zina Neophytou, Vice President, Out of Home for the BBC, said: “BBC World News is the world’s most trusted international news channel, delivering impartial and in-depth analysis of the stories that matter most around the globe. We know that audiences value being able to access the channel’s world-class journalism wherever they are – at home, at work or on the move, from the beginning of their journey to the very end.”
Fraser Brown, Director of Heathrow Express, said: “Heathrow Express passengers want a fast and efficient service to start and finish their global trip. They also need to be well informed. The new onboard BBC World News service one-minute bulletins make sure our discerning passengers are kept up to date with the latest news stories.”
BBC World News is the leader in global breaking news, bringing stories to life for more than 433 million households in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.
United Kingdom | August 11, 2016– Customers travelling with Virgin Atlantic this summer will now be able to tune in to live television onboard its 787’s, thanks to a partnership with Panasonic Avionics and IMG.
This new service will be available to customers travelling on the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner and initially three channels will be available – Sport 24 for all the live sporting action from around the world, and BBC World News and CNN International for breaking news around the clock.
Sport 24 will be showing action from the Rio 2016 Olympics Games, Premier League, NFL, UEFA Champions League, NBA, Tennis Grand Slams, Bundesliga, Formula 1, Golf Majors, MotoGP, and the Ryder Cup.
Jill Brady, Executive Vice President of Customer at Virgin Atlantic, said:
“We know staying up to date with current affairs and sporting events is really important to our customers and it’s fantastic we can now offer them the opportunity to view content live. We always put our customers at the heart of everything we do and this is just another example of us being able to expand on our promise of making travelling with us irresistible.”
Virgin Atlantic customers will be able to tune in to live TV via their seat-back screen or via their own devices using the onboard wifi, at no extra cost.
The service is being rolled out to the 787 Dreamliners now, and all thirteen aircraft will be fully equipped by the end of the year.
In 1991 Virgin Atlantic was the first airline to introduce individual seat back screens in all classes, and by Summer 2017 will offer wifi connectivity across all its aircraft.
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain | December 7, 2015– Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, is bringing the airline’s passengers a new entertainment experience, as it becomes the first airline in the Middle East to launch BBC Worldwide’s three newest genre brands onboard: BBC Brit, BBC Earth and BBC First.
BBC Brit is the home of Top Gear and so much more – blending expertise with entertainment, BBC Brit covers a rich variety of subjects: cars, adventure, life-changing moments, quirky British characters, chat show and comedy. Nature lovers can now enjoy watching BBC Earth onboard their Gulf Air flight – a channel dedicated to sharing the incredible wonders of our planet, showcasing the work of the world’s foremost factual film makers. Fans of British drama now have BBC First – the home of the very best original, innovative and compelling dramas.
Zina Neophytou, Director – Travel & Special Markets, BBC Worldwide said: “BBC Brit, Earth and First offer customers the very best of British entertainment, documentary and drama and we are thrilled that Gulf Air passengers will be the first in the region to be able to enjoy all three channels in-flight.”
Gulf Air A/Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Ahmed Janahi said: “We are delighted to partner with BBC Worldwide to share their premium new channels with our passengers, giving them a greater selection of programs. I don’t doubt that our enhanced onboard entertainment will please travellers and I look forward to receiving their invaluable feedback.”
Gulf Air’s entire fleet is equipped with the latest in-flight entertainment technology offering hundreds of channels of entertainment that include religious programs, movies, TV shows, a channel dedicated to local Bahraini productions and an instructional and informative health channel in addition to a variety of games for the airline’s younger passengers.
Luxembourg and Singapore | June 1, 2015– Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and BT Group (NYSE: BT) today confirmed that BT has renewed and expanded services on three Intelsat satellites, spanning the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America regions.
Under the new multi-year, multi-transponder agreement, BT will leverage capacity from three of Intelsat’s leading satellite neighborhoods to distribute programming for BBC World Service, a premier provider of global news and content. BT will have access to Intelsat’s teleport facility in Napa, California along with the company’s terrestrial network, IntelsatOne®.
The three satellite video neighborhoods, Intelsat 10-02 located at 1°W, Intelsat 805 at 55.5°W and Intelsat 19 at 166.0°E, combined with BT’s service offerings, will allow BBC World Service to increase its channel line-up and continue access to millions of listeners and viewers throughout Asia Pacific, Africa and the Americas.
“Intelsat and BT have a long and proven track record of leveraging each other’s technical strengths to help advance our customers’ business and growth objectives,” said Mark Wilson-Dunn, Vice President BT Media & Broadcast. “The high quality, resiliency and flexibility of Intelsat’s global satellite solutions, combined with the power of its regional video neighborhoods, make Intelsat the ideal partner to support BBC World Service’s global programming needs.”
Nigel Fry, Head of Distribution, BBC World Service, added, “In today’s information age, our viewers want fast-breaking, high quality and reliable content at all times regardless of location. By partnering with BT and Intelsat, we know that we will receive a seamless, integrated solution and distribution platforms that enable us to reliably reach our audience around the world.”
“BBC World Service has very specific requirements as it relates to its global programming needs, including optimizing its distribution and overall operational efficiency. By combining our distribution network with BT’s service offerings, we created a solution that provides BBC World Service with international distribution that serves its global audience, and supports its growth objectives,” said Kurt Riegelman, Intelsat’s Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing. “BBC World Service premier content contributes to the nearly 5,500 SD and HD channels distributed across our fleet and can be accessed by tens of millions of viewers across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America through our media neighborhoods.”
For more information, please visit Intelsat at CommunicAsia 2015 from June 2 through June 5 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, Stand 1S3-01.
Inflight connectivity is about getting data to and from a passenger’s laptop, or getting their voice to the right ear, wherever that might be. The technology behind it may not be interesting to passengers, but it is technological developments, such as TriaGnoSys’ new GSM roaming solution, that drive increased efficiencies, reduce costs and thereby enable airlines to offer more connectivity to more people.”