Airlines woo passengers with regional film fare

India’s growing reputation as one of fastest growing aviation market in the world has led foreign airlines to give special attention to regional films on their flight entertainment system. These airlines are now increasingly buying movie rights of regional films to boost the passenger loyalty.

Sajid Khan, country head, South African airways said, “We are trying to give passengers the latest dose of regional films in several Indian regional languages”. The airline officials say that since Mumbai is the only centre from where the airline operates at present, the movie menu has strong Marathi language film listings.

Another airline, Emirates Airways recently got access to use popular Marathi films like Balak Palak, Premachi Goshta, Satrangi Re and Shaala.

The aviation industry insiders say that the demand for regional film is growing tremendously with more and more people from the interiors of the country flying abroad. According to an estimate, the number of Indian travellers flying abroad stands around 15 million annually which is set to rise to over 50 million in the next seven years. According to the statistics available with Indian tourism department, Maharashtra ranks among the top three states in terms of outbound tourism.