Apple TV boards ITA Airways: now that's some good year-end news

The content challenge in airborne entertainment systems is as "hot" as it is in home TVs, especially at this time where Starlink is increasingly becoming the standard for onboard connectivity Of the planes of many companies.

Of course having the ability to watch on your device what you want thanks to SpaceX's 300mb bandwidth satellites makes the in-flight screen almost obsolete, and I have to say that when I'm on board machines connected with this technology, it's easier to see people on their own screen than on the plane's screen.

ITA Airways charges AppleTV on board its fleet

In recent days, without much fanfare, ITA Airways announced the upgrade of the IFE system on board its fleet equipped with personal screens (A350,A330 and A321neo) . Now passengers in addition to the classic selection of movies and TV series will also find the section devoted to the Apple TV+ catalog.

At the moment there is no mention of very extensive choice, nor will there be the possibility of binge watching an entire series since we're talking about 50 episodes, for about 70h of entertainment, but it's still a quality addition since we're not only talking about side series, but also proprietary products such as Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and the new Foundation.

ITA Airways will thus be the first European airline to have Apple products on board its planes, Air France offers Canal+ series, British Airways those of the BBC, while in the U.S. the Apple catalog, along with those of HBO, AMC and many others are the standard.

It was not the announcement we expected

In the early days of 2026, I will have the opportunity to test the novelty, but I must say that rather than AppleTV+ I would have liked an announcement regarding wi-fi.

To date, ITA's fleet has total chaos when it comes to wi-fi on-board and I hope LH will get their hands on it ASAP. On short-haul there are A220, A320neo that are equipped with infrastructure, but the operation is claudicant. On long-haul, the policy is not at all "updated to 2025" and is stuck at that of last decade.

While the other companies announced the adoption of Starlink, free connectivity for members of their respective loyalty programs in AZ you still pay (every mega) through the nose and the connection is of the least performing of all the ones I have tried During the course of 2025.

In conclusion

ITA Airways announced partnership with AppleTV+, the first European carrier to offer the special series on board its aircraft. There is currently talk of about 50 episodes, rather that will be available to all passengers on board the Italian airline's long-haul fleet.