To make flying more enjoyable for its passengers, Singapore Airlines Ltd. is adding bigger screens, more in-flight movies and a PC, running Red Hat Inc.'s distribution of the Linux operating system, in every seat on its newest planes.

Unlike many U.S. airlines, the carrier doesn't view in-flight service as a cost center where cutbacks can be made to reduce losses or boost profits. Instead, Singapore Airlines' latest investments in cabin service are designed to help it stand out from the competition and attract more passengers.

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Redhat on 23" screens

It is actually adding on in-flight services to make life easy for its passengers, which is quite contrary to what most airlines do. The list includes adding bigger screens, more in-flight movies and a PC, running Red Hat Inc.'s distribution of the Linux operating system, in every seat on its newest planes. KrisWorld is Singapore Airlines' in-flight entertainment system, but they are upgrading this and the latest version is based on Panasonic Avionics Corp.'s eX2 in-flight entertainment system. The two companies jointly developed this.

The system consists of a central Linux server that connects to a network of PCs installed in every seat on the aircraft. The KrisWorld software offers an improved user interface and each economy-class seat is fitted with a 10.6-inch LCD screen that offers resolution of 1,280 pixels by 768 pixels. The Business class and First Class will have the 15.4-inch and 23-inch screen, respectively.

Main Server's got "terabytes"

The main server of the KrisWorld has "terabytes" of storage capacity to hold the content that's made available to passengers. So when a passenger chooses a CD to view, the content is streamed from the KrisWorld server to the seat's computer, which has 40G bytes of local hard-disk space and is based on a Via Technologies Inc. processor.

KrisWorld can also be used as a PC and includes Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice application suite, which offers a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation program. Since each seat also has a USB port, passengers can hook up their keyboards (available for purchase in-flight) and mouse and do work without having to dig out their own laptop. Alternatively one can also use the modified (QWERTY) controls at the side of the seat. Singapore Airlines is still looking for a good internet solution and rumours are they're currently exploring OnAir, an internet provider for the skies.