Qatar Airways brings live TV onboard
Qatar Airways has selected Sport 24 to provide passengers with live coverage of 56 FIFA World Cup matches directly on their personal devices, on flights equipped with the airline’s Super Wi-Fi service.
Produced by IMG and exclusively available inflight from Panasonic Avionics, the live TV service is being streamed for the first time via Inmarsat’s GX Aviation inflight broadband.
The milestone coincides with the FIFA World Cup taking place in the Middle East for the first time, with Qatar hosting the tournament which runs from November 20 to December 18.
Passengers simply connect to the onboard Super Wi-Fi network and click on the Live TV banner to access the service, which also includes extensive live coverage of other sporting competitions including NFL, NBA, NHL, tennis Grand Slams, and much more.
“Our Live Television service brings a whole new dimension to inflight engagement and enables passengers to catch unmissable sporting moments in the skies,” said Andrew Mohr, Vice President of Digital Solutions for Panasonic Avionics, in a release. “We are honored to be continuing our longstanding partnership with Qatar Airways by bringing this innovation to their cabins, in partnership with Inmarsat.”
“Qatar Airways was the first airline based in the Middle East and North Africa to offer Inmarsat’s GX Aviation inflight broadband service, cementing its status as a leading pioneer of technology innovations. We are delighted that, four years later, GX Aviation continues to lead the way for Qatar Airways, powering the connectivity for its first live television offering,” added William Huot-Marchand, Inmarsat Aviation’s Senior Vice President of Inflight Connectivity, in the statement from Panasonic.
In addition to supporting the streaming of Sport 24, Inmarsat’s GX Aviation powers Qatar Airways’ Super Wi-Fi offering, enabling passengers to scroll social media, stream movies and TV, play games and browse the web.