12 Jun 2014 11:00
Passengers on board Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, can enjoy every FIFA World Cup football match ‘live’ on all of the air carrier’s long haul aircraft during the month long tournament, the globe’s biggest sporting event.
All 64 games will be
transmitted live at 30,000 feet on the airline’s modern, wide-bodied fleet of
planes by IMG Media using Etihad Airways’ state-of-the-art interactive inflight
entertainment system, E-box, powered by Panasonic technology.
The E-box screens are
installed in seats for every class of cabin – first, business and economy – so
for flying football fans, no-one need miss a goal being scored.
The World Cup kicks
off today (Thursday 12 June) with host nation Brazil taking on Croatia in Sao
Paulo. The final will be played on Sunday 13 July in Rio de Janeiro when
the global television audience for this single match alone is estimated to
reach more than one billion people.
Peter Baumgartner,
Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Airways said: “The FIFA World Cup is the
biggest and most exciting sporting event in the world and I’m delighted that
all of our guests will be able to watch every match while they fly with us on
their long-haul business or holiday flights. I hope that they sit back,
relax and enjoy the great football action.”
Etihad Airways’
non-stop daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Sao Paulo have been in operation since
June and there has been great demand from British, Dutch and Belgian
expatriates living in the UAE capital and connecting markets because their
national teams play matches in the Brazilian city in the next two weeks.
Etihad Airways
employs 49 of Brazilian nationals as cabin crew, many of whom will work on
board flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo during the World
Cup.
The
airline operates an Airbus A340-500 ultra-long range aircraft on the route and
offers 3,360 seats a week in a three-class configuration.