World Airline News: Let The Games Begin From IPEC When Will Airlines Offer Inflight Gambling?

LONDON - Inflight Gaming has gotten off to a rough start since its inception five years ago. But, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based InterGame, the only active entity now developing and supplying in-seat gaming systems to airlines, wants its product to be seen as a great airline money maker.

Three companies initially offered video gambling: Interactive Entertainment Limited, Interactive Flight Technologies and InterGame. In addition, there were seven companies offering state-of-the-art interactive video systems to support all of the features that were being touted, according to Walter Crawford, president of InterGame in a speech to IPEC attendees. These companies were B/E Aerospace, GEC Marconi, Hughes Avicom, Interactive Flight technologies, Matsushita, Sony and The Network Connection.

"Today, the picture is quite different. The hardware companies have now metamorphosed into four major competitors. They are Matsushita, Rockwell Collins, Sextant and Sony," said Crawford. "Obviously, the inflight gaming industry has had somewhat of a checkered past in its development stage."

Crawford believes there are many opportunities in gaming for airlines and vendors. Presently, Austria's Lauda Air is the only airline in the world operating casino-style gaming as part of its IFE program. According to Crawford, the system is working quite well, and passenger usage statistics continue to rise.

In addition, Swissair intends to offer Swiss Lottery-approved wagering games on its Airbus A330 fleet later this year. "We would also like to work with South African Airways," Crawford told WAN.

However, inflight gaming in the U.S. is a different story. U.S. law prohibits any airline from offering gaming on flight segments to or from the U.S.

Nonetheless, InterGame has set its sights on convincing airlines that offering an interactive gambling product will provide a new source of revenue.

"Certainly, the airlines will continue to charge a passenger for transportation from point A to B. After that, there are only a few ways of obtaining more cash from passengers," said Crawford. "Most methods of offering pay-per-view services in the cabin give way to competitive pressures and ultimately become free amenities."

Why Not In The U.S.? (comments derived from Crawford's speech)

According to a Washington source that is following this commission, nothing of significance related to airline gaming has, or will occur, until the international airlines challenger the U.S. law prohibiting international carriers from offering gaming to or from America. Should the international carriers successfully challenge the U.S. law, most certainly, the U.S. carriers would immediately challenge the companion law that prohibits American carriers from offering gaming to any passenger, anywhere in the world.