HBO’s award-winning dark comedy The White Lotus has emerged as one of the hottest and most-watched TV shows of 2023 among airline passengers making full use of inflight entertainment systems.
Dubai-based Emirates, which describes itself as the world’s largest international airline, says both seasons of The White Season have enjoyed “exceptionally high viewership” throughout 2023, alongside all four seasons of another HBO hit, the satirical drama Succession.
But it wasn’t just Emirates passengers who enjoyed binge-watching The White House, as Australian flag carrier Qantas has reported that the social satire was its most-watched TV show of the year, with passengers collectively binge-watching 300,000 hours of the second season.
Succession also proved a massive hit amongst Qantas’ passengers and yet another HBO hit, the Games of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon which was the airline’s third most-watched TV show of the year.
As for movies, passengers flying Qantas tuned in to watch the Barbie film in their droves, whereas Avatar: The Way of Water proved to be most popular among passengers flying with Emirates.
Both airlines, however, noticed that the easy-to-watch rom-com Ticket to Paradise which costars George Clooney and Julia Roberts, was a sleeper hit of the year.
While inflight Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly popular for airline passengers, inflight entertainment still remains an important aspect of the journey for many passengers – whether that be watching a traditional seatback screen or streaming content onto their own devices.
Fans of The White Lotus may have to wait a little longer for the next instalment of the smash hit show, with HBO reporting that season three likely won’t now debut until 2025.
Perhaps part of the charm of The White Lotus among airline passengers is the wanderlust it inspires with season 1 set in Hawaii, while season 2 saw the cast of beautiful hotel guests arrive in Sicily.
Season 3 is likely to be set in Thailand and, like the first two seasons, will be filmed at a Four Seasons resort. The luxury hotel chain has just four properties in Thailand in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and the Golden Triangle.
