Starting in November, Bahrain-based Gulf Air will offer Sky Hub in-flight technology, making broadband connectivity and live TV service possible for passengers during their flights - even on intercontinental sectors.

"This is another important milestone in our customer service journey and we are bringing, for the first time in the world, fully integrated broadband connectivity offering high speed Internet, voice over Internet, streaming videos and the world's first in-flight live TV satellite stream across continents," says Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali.

Sky Hub -- which is a joint venture among Gulf Air, Panasonic, Deutsche Telekom and Aeromobile -- will enable access to email, text messaging, phone calls, web surfing and live TV streaming, in addition to Gulf Air's regular in-flight entertainment.

Although the project is costing several million dollars, Majali says the system will pay for itself.

"It puts us in the forefront of competition and we will recoup the investment through funds of passengers using it during flights," says Majali.

So far, one Gulf Air aircraft is equipped with functioning Sky Hub service and every two weeks another aircraft in the carrier's fleet will be fitted with the equipment. Gulf Air expects to have its entire fleet outfitted within five months.