Low-cost airline, Norwegian, has launched Europe’s first flights with live TV on its fleet of 87 WiFi equipped aircraft. Passengers using Norwegian’s free inflight WiFi can now watch Bloomberg Television and Norway’s TV 2 News live on handheld devices during flights from the UK to 29 destinations around Europe. The new service was launched on a flight from Oslo to Berlin.
Norwegian’s Live TV service is delivered through the aircraft’s satellite connectivity system by the airline’s inflight WiFi provider, Global Eagle Entertainment. The airline has also collaborated with RiksTV, Norway’s only TV distributor, offering digital TV and HDTV and internet services, to bring live TV at 35,000 feet.
The connectivity system works through a satellite antenna mounted on the aircraft which sends and receives broadband signals to an orbiting satellite. The Live TV stream is sent to the aircraft through a series of data packets that are transmitted from the ground to an orbiting satellite and finally to the aircraft which then uses the inflight WiFi to communicate with passengers’ mobile devices.
Bj?rn Kjos, Chief Executive Officer at Norwegian said: “We’re very excited to be the first airline in Europe to offer live television on board. Introducing TV 2 News and Bloomberg Television to our passengers opens the door to more content choices and a better overall inflight experience.
“By offering free Wi-Fi combined with complementary live television, we are setting the stage for a passenger experience like no other in the sky.”
Aditya Chatterjee, CTO and SVP of Connectivity Systems at GEE: “This important collaboration between Global Eagle Entertainment and Norwegian marks an important component of next generation inflight connectivity offerings that Global Eagle is poised to deliver worldwide.”
RiksTV is also a partner of Norwegian’s loyalty programme, Norwegian Reward where members can earn 1400 CashPoints that can used to make cost savings on flights, when subscribing to RiksTV.
Christian Birkeland, CEO at RiksTV added: “We are proud to be involved in such an historic event. To broadcast live TV on mobile devices is a key part of our strategy. We are happy that we have the opportunity to do this on Norwegian’s aircraft.”
