NEW DELHI: Emirates has signed an agreement with BBC World, making the Dubai-based airline the first to offer live BBC news headlines on its aircraft.
The new service, effective immediately, means that passengers can stay in touch with the latest news, business and sport stories from the www.bbcnews.com website. Information is updated regularly throughout each flight and displayed on overhead monitors or personal video screens, an official statement from the BBC states.
Headlines are sent constantly from the BBC website and retransmitted to the aircraft through Inmarsat geostationary satellites, positioned 35,600km above earth. The software and communications infrastructure for the service was developed in-house by Emirates.
BBC World travel distribution head Bill Mould added, "The BBC is renowned for its authoritative, accurate, balanced presentation of the news. This agreement with Emirates means the airline's passengers can be the best informed, most up-to-date travellers in the skies."
Emirates had been presenting a selection of headlines on its brand new Airbus A340-500 aircraft, including the top six news stories and the top four business and sport developments. The new service now becomes available on all A330s and Boeing B777-300s, as well as some B777-200s.