The Hindu Business Line : Kingfisher Airlines to offer live in-flight entertainment

MR VIJAY MALLYA, Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, with Mr Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group, at a press conference in Mumbai on Friday. — Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Dec. 8

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and Dish TV have joined hands to provide live in-flight entertainment on Kingfisher aircraft, the companies announced at a press conference here on Friday.

Kingfisher Airlines is the first carrier in the country to offer live in-flight entertainment and only the second airline worldwide. JetBlue Airways in the United States is the first airline to offer the facility.

Dish TV will provide Kingfisher passengers with a choice of 16 channels. According to Mr Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group, the channels will be a mix of Zee Network and third party offerings. The channel menu has not been decided upon yet, but Kingfisher Chairman and CEO, Mr Vijay Mallya, announced that passengers would be able to view the Cricket World Cup 2007 live on Kingfisher Airlines.

"The World Cup played an important part in Kingfisher Airline's time scale," Mr Mallya said. "Everything was based on the fact that we must have the World Cup."

The addition of live TV strengthens Kingfisher's position as a premium airline. It already has the highest average ticket prices in the industry and Mr Mallya said the airlines expect to break even sometime in 2008. When that happens, the company will explore options of going public.

To transmit the live feed, a satellite-tracking dish would be fitted to each aircraft. The technology will also permit Kingfisher to change the mix of channels depending on the sector e.g. a Bangalore flight could offer Kannada channels. The first Kingfisher aircraft is already being retrofitted with the requisite technology and should be back in service just before Christmas. According to Mr Mallya, another five aircraft will be retrofitted by February 2007, well ahead of the World Cup. All Kingfisher aircraft (excluding ATRs) will offer live in-flight entertainment by the end of next year.

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