Page 15 - AAA JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 Online Magazine

Lionsgate, BBC, 20th Century passengers stream content on to
Fox and Dreamworks. Air France their own devices. Delta too has
will introduce the service through adopted the strategy of continu-
Joon early this year while Corsair ing with seatback entertainment
will offer it in its new business even while pushing forward with
class cabins. In August last wireless IFE options. In Latin
year, Air France started trials America, carriers and indus-
on immersive in-flight entertain- try veterans believe it will take
ment (IFE) headsets, which allow a few years before passengers
Business Class passengers to will consider using their personal
watch 2D and 3D content. devices as their primary source
Even low-cost carriers are of entertainment. An example
Meanwhile, Air China has jumping into the fray. India’s is Aeromexico; unlike American,
entered into a partnership with SpiceJet announced last April the Mexican carrier has opted
online retailer JD.com to offer that it would offer in-flight enter- to have seatback screens on its
passengers a selection of goods tainment services before the 737 Max aircraft.
they can purchase through end of the year, enabling pas-
their embedded IFE system; the sengers to shop and stream
goods will be delivered to their movies during flight. The carrier
homes. The carrier has also made the announcement after
announced that it will it will equip joining hands with Lufthansa
its new Airbus A350 aircraft with Systems. Under the arrange-
in-flight entertainment and con- ment, the carrier’s aircraft will
nectivity (IFEC) solutions from have BoardConnect Portable,
Panasonic Avionics Corporation; a mobile streaming unit (MSU)
the first of the 10 aircraft was that can be mounted or removed
delivered in December last year. without affecting other com-
The eX3 system will allow the ponents in the aircraft, thus
carrier to offer audio and video eliminating high costs for hard-
on demand, as well as let pas- ware, fitting and certification. While no one disputes the fact
sengers enjoy a content library Soon, passengers would also be that wireless IFE is the future,
that has up to 300 movies, 200 able to access a variety of enter- industry experts believe that car-
TV shows, games and music. tainment and e-commerce offers riers that continue to persist with
China Eastern’s ‘In-flight Mall’ on their own smart phones and embedded IFE may have gotten
on its Boeing 777-300s gives tablets, according to the carrier. their strategy right. According
passengers the flexibility to to them, a seat-back screen is
order meals, pay for upgrades Here to Stay something that passengers are
onboard, and purchase duty free arriers have been quick accustomed to, and it would be
items through the embedded to embrace wireless too much to expect those who do
IFE screen, personal devices or IFE, but are not quite not travel with their own device
tablets that are provided by the Cready to totally discard to wholeheartedly embrace a
carrier. seatback screens. American’s complete shift to wireless IFE.
SkyLights has announced that 737 Max may have opted for 737 A strategy that involves a judi-
Air France, Joon, Corsair and Max without embedded IFE, but cious mix of wireless IFE and
Jetfly will offer its 2nd generation all its wide-bodies, as well as conventional seatback screens,
immersive in-flight entertainment its new Boeing 737 and Airbus depending on a variety of factors
(IFE) solution, which is a com- A321 aircraft, continue to have such as fleet types and routes,
bination of the AlloSky headset seatback screens. JetBlue offers would be ideal, they add.
with content from Warner seatback screens in all its air-
Brothers, National Geographic, craft, in addition to letting

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