Emirates’ first A350-900 equipped with Thales’ AVANT Up in-flight entertainment system has taken flight from Dubai to Edinburgh today, bringing a new era of content to the cabin.
The AVANT Up system features a 4K QLED HDR display, two Bluetooth connections to pair devices, and built-in Wi-Fi, as well as Thales’ power management solution that supports up to 60W of in-screen charging capacity for personal devices. The A350 IFE system will also provide live TV events such as sports and news and use Digital Video Recording capability. Emirates has equipped the screens with ‘ice’, a user interface (UI) from where passengers can access a smart search engine, a navigation bar with play controls and stings, and a pictoral UI for kids. This pairs with iceMoments, a platform for short video content.
Using personal accounts, passengers will be able to login to their seatback screen and access preferences, continue watching previous content, receive recommendations based on watch history and view personalised connecting gate information.
“Thales is honoured to celebrate alongside Emirates the airline’s first A350 taking flight. We are excited for Emirates passengers to experience the next-generation of in-flight entertainment on ice powered by AVANT Up,” said Niels Steenstrup, Chief Executive Officer, Thales InFlyt Experience. “We are proud to partner with Emirates in their mission to fly better. Together, we accelerate the future of IFE to constantly elevate the benchmark of inflight experience.”
Additionally, Thales and Emirates have designed the IFE system to fit accessibility needs, such as audio-cue navigation assistance, voice metadata feedback, touch and swipe gesture controls, and a selection of audio-descriptive content.
Image: Emirates
