SriLankan Airlines adds video games to its inflight entertainment

SriLankan Airlines introduces 16 video games on its A330 and A340 flights
with effect from today, 1 October, 2002. This includes all sectors operated by these aircraft, including those where inflight entertainment was not previously available.

The 16 video games have been chosen to cater to all tastes, and range from checkers, backgammon, blackjack and poker to Galaktor, Tetrix, Magma Zone and Busy Bee.

SriLankan's Head of Service Delivery Walter Riggans said that SriLankan Airlines inflight entertainment has been ranked very highly among international airlines, with individual screens available for each seat in both Business and Economy Classes.

The airline's 'ONBOARD' guide is once again one of the five finalists in this year's AVION awards for the 'Best Inflight Entertainment Guide' conducted by the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA). The other finalists for this prestigious award are United Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air France and Air Canada. Prior to this, in 2000, SriLankan Airlines was second runner-up at the AVION awards.

Riggans said that all SriLankan Airlines flights on A330 and A340 offer, in addition to the 16 video games, 22 radio channels, 18 video channels and in Business Class over 30 movies in an exclusively stocked video library. 

The 15 movie and TV channels offer the latest Hollywood hits, 'Gold' Movies, the best of Bollywood, Asian, Sri Lankan & World Cinema, Sports, Comedy, Music Videos, Drama & the Arts, Quest & Travel and a specially dedicated children's television channel. 

Catering to the wide language preferences on board, different languages can be individually selected including English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Sinhala, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam. SriLankan was the first airline in the world to feature Sinhala and Tamil movies.

SriLankan's Business Class passengers are pampered with a personal in-seat video player and film library offering the best of in-flight entertainment in 13 languages. The over 30 movies available comprise action thrillers, comedies, dramas, romance, musicals, world cinema and Asian cinema. Eighteen copies of each movie are stocked on board to ensure total availability.

Passengers can also chart their flight's progress with 'Airshow'. This moving map, which reads its information directly from the aircraft's navigation system, indicates the location, speed, altitude, and estimated time of arrival. In addition, the forward camera, offered by only a handful of airlines worldwide, offers visitors a stunning "pilot's eye view" of everything from take-off and landing, to the spectacular scenery en route. A downward camera captures the sights directly below the aircraft, particularly useful when flying over cities or mountain ranges.

The onboard radio system which is available to each passenger, caters to the diverse nationalities of passengers flying with SriLankan. The widest choice of music from around the world is offered, ranging from Euro charts, Golden Era, classical and jazz, to popular selections of music from Sri Lanka, India, Arabia and Japan. CD reviews were increased from two to six albums with effect from August 1, 2002. 

Targeting the many passengers transiting through Colombo is Channel 20's 'Serendipity', a special radio programme celebrating the sights, sounds, pleasures and infinite variety of this beautiful country to encourage them to make a stopover on their next journey to see the country for themselves. A newly recorded edition will be available from December 1, 2002.

On certain short sectors where headsets are not offered due to limited flight time a selection of Charlie Chaplin silent movie classics are played and added to this will now be the 16 video games.

The businessman has not been forgotten as SriLankan Airlines also offers 'Satcom', a satellite telephone service connecting passengers to anywhere around the globe, at only US$ 5.00 per minute or it can be used to call family and friends. All it takes is a swipe of the credit card.

Passengers can also send faxes from the onboard fax machine and charge their laptop computers at one of three charging stations on board. Added to this is also a seat-to-seat calling facility, which is totally free of charge.

SriLankan Airlines flies to Sri Lanka and beyond from Asian ports including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Jakarta. From Australia and New Zealand, the airline offers connections to its own flights through scheduled services on partner carriers flying to Asia.