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It's Showtime for Qatar Airways and Rockwell Collins' Tailwind 560
HAMBURG (September 21, 2005) - Rockwell Collins has signed an agreement with Showtime Arabia to provide the best in live, Western and Middle Eastern TV channels
for the Rockwell Collins Tailwind 560 satellite television system. Qatar Airways, the launch customer for the Tailwind 560,
will introduce this service to its passengers before the end of 2005, making it the first international airline to provide
passengers with live television across multiple regions.
The system allows passengers traveling in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to watch a variety of popular TV channels
live on the ground and at 30,000 feet. Available channels secured by Showtime will include CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC World, Bloomberg,
Sky News, EuroNews, MTV, VH1, CNBC Arabiya, MBC, LBC International, Rotana Music, TV 5, and others for a variety of live news,
sports, children's, music, general entertainment, and financial information content. Fully independent, personalized television
viewing will allow each individual passenger to select from this suite of premium English and Arabic-language channels. The
system's multi-directional antenna will enable passengers to enjoy uninterrupted entertainment as their flights pass from
Middle Eastern into European airspace.
Peter Einstein, Showtime President & CEO, stated, "We are pleased to have been appointed by Rockwell Collins to bring the
best combination of Arabic and English-language TV content to the skies. Now, Showtime's reputation as the leading regional
pay TV platform is no longer limited to viewers on the ground."
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways' Chief Executive Officer, further stated, "By offering a variety of entertainment options, we
are able to differentiate our passenger service through live entertainment programming while also setting new standards of
comfort to ensure we are the airline of choice."
Matt Smith, Senior Director, Rockwell Collins Airshow systems, stated, "Rockwell Collins is pleased to strengthen our established
relationship with a recognized brand name and the Middle East's leading programming provider - Showtime. This relationship
allows our customer, Qatar Airways, to offer superior satellite programming to their passengers."
Qatar Airways will install onboard satellite television on its new Airbus A330 and A340 fleet to service flights both within
and between the Middle East and long-haul routes covering Europe, Asia and South Africa from its operational hub of Doha,
capital of the State of Qatar.
About Qatar
Qatar Airways currently operates flights from Doha, to 66 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent
and the Far East. The airline adds the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to its growing list of destinations from November 15, followed
a month later by Berlin on December 15. Qatar Airways flies a modern fleet of 41 all-Airbus aircraft, which will almost triple
in size to 110 jets within 10 years. The airline announced plans at the Paris Air Show in June to acquire up to 80 aircraft,
comprising 60 of the new generation A350s and 20 Boeing 777s worth a total US$15.2 billion. It is one of the launch customers
of the twin-deck A380 'super jumbos' with four aircraft on order and scheduled for delivery from 2009 to coincide with the
opening of the New Doha International Airport. Qatar Airways recently retained its status as one of only a select-few Five
Star-ranked airlines in the world by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry monitoring agency. For further more information
view the Qatar web site at www.qatarairways.com.
About Showtime
Showtime is a direct-to-home (DTH), digital satellite pay-TV network for the Middle East and North Africa, with a Business
Development team that has a proven track record in providing tailor-made content aggregation solutions with associated distribution
license rights clearance to third parties, including DTH platforms, cable/MMDS operators, ADSL triple play solutions, 3G mobile
operators, commercial airlines and private jets. Showtime is the trading name of Gulf DTH, which is a joint media venture
between KIPCO - Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) - and Viacom Inc. Gulf DTH is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
For detailed program information, listings, corporate news and dealer index, please browse the Showtime website at: http://www.showtimearabia.com.
About Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) is a worldwide leader in the design, production, and support of communication and aviation electronics
for commercial and government customers. The company's 17,000 employees in 27 countries deliver industry-leading communication,
navigation, surveillance, display, flight control, inflight entertainment, information management, and maintenance, training
and simulation solutions. Additional information is available at www.rockwellcollins.com.
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