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Long-haul flights are only really bearable because of the chance to sit back and watch hours of films and TV shows, but using small fiddly screens with poor sound quality is hardly the high life.
However, passengers on British Airways' dedicated London City to New York service are now being treated to 64GB iPads preloaded with films, TV shows and games to help pass the time as they cross the Atlantic.
The tablets are locked down, so passengers in the 32 seats can't use them for anything other than the entertainment services, but it's safe to assume that most people flying on such a service have their own iPads. Probably two.
V3 asked BA whether passengers get any sort of stand for the iPad, as holding it for seven hours doesn't sound that appealing, but the firm had yet to reply at the time of publication.
BA did inform us, though, that it will ensure there are enough tablets with adequate charge times for all paying punters by juicing them up at JFK or London City on arrival.
As for how much it has all cost, BA wouldn't say. But, assuming each iPad costs £500 and that BA bought 75 units (32 each for the two services it operates, plus a few spare if anything goes wrong) the bill is likely to be around £35,000.
V3 decided it might book a flight to enjoy the service, but the £2,500 to £3,500 price tag put us off somewhat. Still, if 32 rich people booked at £2,500, that's £80,000 in fares, more than covering the iPads in one go.
We were going to ask how BA will ensure people won't nick the tablets once they land, but at those ticket prices, why would they need to?
The news follows the revelation that Boeing has chosen Android to power the new touch-screen entertainment systems on its next-generation Dreamliner jet.
Still, it doesn't reduce the dreaded jet lag, does it?
29 Sep 2011
