Emirates has planned to invest over US$ 350 million to equip the airline’s strong fleet of 50 Airbus A350s with next-generation inflight entertainment solutions.
Emirates, one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates recently announced that the company has selected the new Thales’ AVANT Up system for its incoming fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft. The fleet is scheduled for delivery in 2024. According to Emirates, this new addition to the leisure offered by is a part of the company’s continued drive to ensure customers ‘fly better’. Emirates has planned to invest over US$ 350 million to equip the airline’s strong fleet of 50 Airbus A350s with next-generation inflight entertainment solutions that offer a memorable cinematic and personalized passenger experience.
The new AVANT Up system from Thales will also provide an enhanced ‘live’ television solution that offers a broader choice of live television and news to the passengers in the highest available definition at 40,000 feet. Emirates is also the first airline globally to select Thales’ Pulse, a patented power management technology that will ensure that charging performance will be unaffected no matter how many users are charging their devices at the same time.
Adel al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates said, “Emirates has always regarded inflight entertainment as an essential aspect of our onboard experience, and we were in fact the first airline to put personal screens onto every single seat onboard when that was far from the norm over 30 years ago. Today, Emirates ice remains unmatched in inflight entertainment content and experience, having won best-in-the-sky awards consecutively for the past 14 years. Our investment in next-generation Thales systems for our new A350 fleet will further our lead, enabling us to deliver even better experiences to our customers. Watch this space.”
The technology in Thales’ AVANT Up system features Optiq 4k QLED HDR displays. Thales’ AVANT Up system is the only aircraft display that uses Samsung’s QLED technology and the company provides videos in more than a billion colors. This display capability provides an ideal medium for Emirates’ unmatched “ice inflight entertainment product” which delivers over 5,000 channels of multi-language content including live TV, the latest box office movies, TV shows and music hits, and the world’s first inflight shopping channel, EmiratesRED.
With an aim to enrich passenger engagement, Emirates has chosen a variety of AVANT Up digital services including highly integrated personalization features. The AVANT Up digital service also provides expanded personal electronic device (PED) capabilities and user interface enhancements which also enable visually impaired passengers to have an immersive experience.
Yannick Assouad, Executive Vice-President, Thales Avionics said, “At Thales we are proud to partner with Emirates in their mission to Fly Better. Thales’ AVANT Up brings to Emirates the latest consumer technologies and capabilities to the aircraft. Combining our Optiq 4K QLED HDR displays, award-winning dynamic power, and next generation digital services, Emirates customers can expect the extraordinary.”
Emirates is also in the process to introduce enhanced passenger connectivity with Optiq – the first smart display in the industry to offer two Bluetooth connections, and built-in Wi-Fi for passengers to pair multiple devices including phones, tablets, headphones, or even game controllers while supporting up to 60 watts USB-C to fast-charge personal devices.
Emirates and Thales Reflecta shared a vision to innovate and shape future inflight experiences. The two companies aim to continue their collaboration on programmes through Dubai’s Aviation X-Lab, an aviation-specific incubator.
