Flying high, flying smart

Air travel today can be a test of knowledge as well as of posterior endurance. SUZANNE McFADDEN reports.

If you know Buddy Holly's real name, or who William Shakespeare's parents were, you could be the genius of the skies.

But if you thought you could escape game shows by leaving the ground ... you're away behind.

In the latest battle to win passengers, Singapore Airlines has introduced the "In-flight Challenge" - a 20-question quiz played in mid-air.

Passengers throughout the plane compete against each other for the honour of sitting in the smartest seat on board. The grand prize - a small torch.

In-flight entertainment is now a big drawcard for flyers.

People with web addictions are now choosing airlines with internet and e-mail.

Boffins with their own web cameras can keep an eye on home or office from above the clouds.

If you are flying across the United States, you don't have to miss the Superbowl while you are in the air - domestic airlines are picking up live television via satellite.

The high-tech electronics do not interfere with flying the plane.

The latest innovation to avoid boredom on a long-haul flight is inter-passenger games.

On Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and Los Angeles or Chicago, passengers can challenge each other in to electronic chess or mahjong.

And they don't have to be sitting in the same row.

Up to 100 people from all areas of the plane can play In-flight Challenge, which was introduced on the new Singapore-Chicago route this month.

Games are played on screens installed in the seat-backs.

Passengers answer the multi-choice questions with a control panel - the same one used to knock out the tough guys in Super Punch-out (one of an array of Nintendo games that can also be played on board).

The quiz winner cannot be modest - if he or she is sitting in 32B, the seat number flashes up on everyone's screens.

The airline researched what passengers spent their time doing on a 10-hour flight. When they weren't sleeping (an average of 3 1/2 hours), they spent almost that long watching movies, about an hour listening to audio through their headsets, and about 30 minutes playing video games.

Now they can plug their laptops into their seats to send and receive e-mail and browse selected websites.

Dialing out does not interfere with the on-board electronics, because the e-mail is patched through the aircraft's own satellite system.

Flights to and from New Zealand will be equipped with the new technology by at least the start of 2003.

Bridget Vercoe, marketing executive for Singapore Airlines in New Zealand, said the airline recognised it had to be innovative to keep people amused.

"The response has been incredibly positive," she said.

"The personalised entertainment is a huge draw-card - especially for people travelling with children."

Qantas has spent $A300 million on its in-flight entertainment system, which will be gradually installed in all of its 747s.

Every passenger on the plane will have a video screen and in-seat personal phone.

In business and first class, passengers will have larger touch-control screens to play games such as hangman, backgammon, poker and solitaire.

Other international airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada and Scandinavian Airline Systems, are in the race to provide the first full internet service to parts of their planes.

Air New Zealand has discussed introducing e-mail and internet to its long-haul flights, but has found problems with getting strong satellite links in the Southern Hemisphere.

The airline now has nine-channel personal TV screens at every seat in business and first class, and six personal video channels on transtasman and regional Pacific flights.

In the United States, domestic airline Jet Blue has become the first commercial carrier to show live TV on board.

Twenty-four channels are broadcast on 12cm high screens on the seat backs.

The television signals come from a satellite, broadcasting on a higher bandwidth frequency than that used by the pilots.

* Buddy Holly's real name was Charles Hardin Holley and Stratford-on-Avon's favourite son was the offspring of John and Mary Shakespeare.