British Airways Brings Edinburgh Fringe Comedy to the Skies

Following a series of inflight entertainment (IFE) collaborations with British Airways, including bringing Glastonbury music festival content to the cabin and streaming the Coronation of King Charles III inflight, content provider Spafax is now adding highlights from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe comedy festival on the airline’s inflight entertainment lineup.

Throughout August 2023, the same month as this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, British Airways will showcase seven stand-up comedy gigs from the event, including Eleanor Morton with ‘Has Peaked, Jamie D’Souza’s ‘Stop Drawing Willies on My Poster’, Katie Pritchard lighting up the scene with ‘Disco Ball’, Rajiv Karia sharing laughs in ‘Gallivant’, Rob Rouse’s ‘No Refunds’ show, the debut of ‘Hair’ by musical comedy double act Shelf, and Will Duggan’s self-deprecating show, ‘Iceberg’.

The one-hour performances are filmed by UK-based production company and streaming platform NextUp in venues throughout the Scottish capital and licenced by Just For Laughs Distribution, giving passengers a sample of the festival’s renowned blend of humour and culture and promoting the ‘Best of British Comedy’. These selected shows – the first Edinburgh Fringe shows to be offered onboard an airline – can be found under the dedicated ‘Edinburgh Fringe’ category in the IFE system during August. After the festival ends, the content will enter the comedy section of the system until 31st January, 2024.

Sarah Henley, co-CEO and co-founder of NextUp, said, “This partnership with Just For Laughs and Spafax is one way to get our fantastic comedy content off the ground! Thanks to British Airways, this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Festival will be more accessible than ever, with audiences able to experience this usually one-of-a-kind festival from literally anywhere in the world.”