Where can I find in-flight film titles from international flights?

April 15, 2023 7:21 PM

I have found that international flights often come with a good range of independent and foreign films on the in-flight entertainment menu. Are these lists of films available somewhere? I tried to search Delta as an example but I could mostly find US domestic films on their list, even though I know this is not representative of what they play on international flights. Open to any airline. Thank you!
posted by gemutlichkeit to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Off the top of my head answer: if there're online versions of their inflight magazines in full, then the back pages will be where you find the listings. However, I've looked up what I could to validate my experience and it's a little outdated: pre-00s these mags are the way to go, but it seems that nowadays the big thoroughfare airlines like Emirates would prefer you check their website and more thoroughly, their app. Smaller/regional-focused airlines would still do these backpages though, but it's not a given they'll list them online.
posted by cendawanita at 7:35 PM on April 15, 2023

It looks like you can look up specific international United Airlines flights on this United Private Screening page to see what will be available in-flight.
posted by past unusual at 8:42 PM on April 15, 2023

Air New Zealand lists all the films showing on their long haul flights on their website.
posted by Paragon at 11:04 PM on April 15, 2023

The films on Turkish Airlines are listed in a PDF at the bottom of this page. I found it by googling 'Turkish Air' and 'film selection' - you could pick a few major international airlines and try similar searches. Examples of airlines outside the Anglosphere off the top of my head: Etihad, Qatar, Air Asia, Singapore, Air France, Ethiopia, TAP, Latam.

In my own experience of flipping through all films categories available and then reading a book instead, I've found that film selections tend to be divided into: (a) a selection of Hollywood films - how new they are depends on how premium the airline is; (b) films from the country where the airline is based (many airlines are still seen as flagships even when they're no longer publically owned); and (c) films of interest to their main markets, eg the countries they are flying to/from. This also determines the availability of subtitles, and not all films are available on every international flight.

Back when inflight magazines were the main source of information, the film selection was often divided into zones radiating out from the airport hub, with the selections differing depending on whether the flight was inbound or outbound.
posted by tavegyl at 2:27 AM on April 16, 2023

Singapore Airlines: This page has the newly-added titles for each month. To see the full list, you'll have to download the KrisWorld entertainment guide - April 2023 edition here (PDF link).
posted by hellopanda at 10:41 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]