Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and BBC World are among the channels that passengers with Qatar Airways will be able to watch live on-board from later this week. The airline is one of the first to put live TV feeds on its fleet and the very first to offer it to all passengers, even those in economy, through the in-flight entertainment system.

Qatar Airways' chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, said: “We have been successfully trialling live TV for sometime and are extremely pleased to be able to now offer this wonderful, unique service to passengers on selected aircraft,” he said, adding that the service is gradually being rolled out across the airline’s long-haul fleet.”

The first aircraft to have the new in-flight entertainment system that makes live TV possible goes into service this coming week. The Airbus A340-600, which will be used on the route between London and Doha, will be one of 17 which will have the system installed by the end of the year.

Last year, Singapore Airlines started offering passengers access to live television through its Connexion by Boeing on-board wireless broadband service. This allows passengers to view a handful of channels on their wireless-enabled laptops. Wireless access is charged at rates ranging from US$9.95 (one hour) to US$26.95 (24 hours).