Emirates today announced it has signed an agreement with Thales to equip its Boeing 777X fleet with Thales AVANT inflight entertainment system. The airline will work in partnership with Thales to develop and enhance the state-of-the-art inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) system to be fitted on its new Boeing 777X aircraft due for delivery starting in mid-2020.
“Our partnership with Thales represents a significant investment and emphasis on customer experience, which has always been a priority for us. The new Boeing 777X aircraft will herald a new era for the Emirates fleet, and we want to ensure that our product offering on these fuel-efficient planes will be a benchmark for the industry, including the inflight entertainment experience. We look forward to revealing more details when the time is right,” said Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Emirates Airline.
He added: “In addition to customers, the size and long-term nature of this deal also benefits the broader aviation industry, and we are pleased that this new partnership will help support thousands of highly skilled jobs across the Thales ecosystem – in France and elsewhere around the world.”
The deal covers IFEC systems for Emirates’ first 50 Boeing 777X aircraft. The airline has a firm order of 150 Boeing 777X aircraft. The new Thales AVANT system will feature an innovative and highly customisable user experience, providing a further boost to Emirates’ award winning inflight entertainment system, ice.
Emirates has an unbeaten 12-year record as the winner of World’s Best Inflight Entertainment award at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. The airline offers up to 2,500 channels on demand including the latest blockbuster movies, award-winning television box sets, comedy series, live TV, music and computer games. Currently, 85% of Emirates’ fleet of 240 passenger aircraft is equipped with Wi-Fi on board including all A380 aircraft and 107 aircraft are equipped with live TV, which has up to nine channels of live news and sport.