British Airways to show seven-hour train journey as inflight entertainment

British Airways has launched a new style of inflight entertainment on a number of its long-haul flights: a seven-hour film of a train journey between Oslo and Bergen in Norway.

An unlikely breakout hit in Norway, The Seven Hour Train Journey to Oslo follows the entire duration of a scenic train ride. More than a million Norwegians are estimated to have tuned in to the show at some point when it was originally aired on local channel NRK.

British Airways will show the film on hundreds flights from July, and, if popular, the airline plans to to expand its 'Slow TV' shows to other hits including knitting, a walk in the park and bird feeding.

The idea behind showing the film is to entertain those that believe that the journey is as important as the destination, as well as to lull passengers into a calm frame of mind.

British Airways' in-flight entertainment manager, Richard D'Cruze said: "One of the team at our agency Spafax read about this unusual documentary and tracked it down. It fits perfectly with the 'wallpaper' style footage people find mesmerising in-flight, such as our moving maps which customers watch for endless hours! There's definitely a hypnotic, calming and entertaining quality to 'Slow TV' that is perfect for in-flight entertainment."

If you don't fancy watching the film, you don't need to worry: British Airways features more than 130 movies, 650 TV shows from around the world and some 550 audio albums and 225 radio shows in its in-flight entertainment systems.

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