Mr Lorenzo Han, a spokesman for IFE company Wencor, said that the modern systems like those used by Singapore Airlines `first became possible about five years ago, but it took another two years before they became more widespread in airlines industry`.

The relatively high system cost - about US$400,000 (S$667,000) per aircraft, according to estimates on the Wencor website - and the need to ground the aircraft in order to install the necessary cabling and other systems was the cause for the delay, since only financially healthy airlines could afford to do so, he said.

Since then, the company has sold battery-powered portable IFE systems to newer airlines like SilkAir and JetStar. These resemble portable media players, with hard disks capable of holding up to 60 DVD-quality movies.

They are quicker to install, although they are generally more limited in features compared to traditional `embedded` IFE systems like those used by Singapore Airlines.

Expected to be commercially available next year are the `wireless embedded` next-generation IFE systems.

These are full-fledged IFE systems, but made modular for easy replacement instead of the highly wired, non-removable units today.

In other words, the days of an IFE system that doesn`t work spoiling your fun at 10,000m are over, as the air crew can simply unplug the broken screen or control unit, and plug in a spare one.