British Airways to Play Inflight Movies During Takeoff, Landing and Beyond

You're watching an inflight movie throughout your flight when suddenly the flight attendant tells you to take off your headset and the movie is cut short because the flight is preparing to land. After watching practically the whole thing, you never know how the movie ends. British Airways is working to change that.

British Airways will now allow passengers to watch inflight movies and television shows for the entire duration on their long-haul planes. This means passengers can watch the movie during takeoff and landing.

The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority approved the change which goes into effect this weekend. Typically, passengers are shown blank screens during takeoff landing for about 20 minutes. Now passengers will have as much an an extra hour of viewing time, which will allow them to catch the ending of a movie of show.

"British Airways will become the first UK airline to enable customers to watch their in-flight entertainment screens from the second they reach their seat to the moment they arrive at their destination," a BA spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

This move will be particularly useful for families who are traveling with children.

"We think this is something passengers will appreciate. It follows passenger feedback. And it stops the frustration of being left on the edge of your seat in a cliff-hanger movie only to have the screen go blank," BA chief executive Keith Williams told the Daily Mail.

In some cases, passengers will even be able to watch the show while the plane is taxiing and beyond. While others disembark the plane, the show will go on for another 20 minutes.

"Clearly we can't have people camping out on the plane all night to finish their movie. But there is usually a bit of time when you're waiting to disembark when those vital few minutes and seconds might make all the difference," BA said.

British Airways will continue to interrupt films to make announcements, but the picture on the screen will continue to play throughout the announcement.

Some popular movies that BA featured last year were The Avengers, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises and Snow White and Huntsman. Being big hits, it would be frustrating to miss the ending of one of these films.

This feature will initally be available on a majority of BA flights and will eventually be introduced across the fleet.