Feature: IFE
This is an indication of the importance placed
on IFE’s by the airlines and plane manufacturers. Some, like Lufthansa’s home grown (Lufthansa Technic) installed system boasts 65 video options with 30 cinema films in up to eight languages, 25 TV programmes and 10 music magazines from all over the world, 100 CDs, and a variety of audio books. In December 2010 the airline has taken this a step further with the introduction of WI-FI on all services through the FlyNet service which re-launched. With assistance from Panasonic, it’s now offering broadband internet access on intercontinental routes and access should be available on “nearly the entire Lufthansa intercontinental network by the end of 2011.” (1) But it isn’t cheap at €10.95 an hour. How often have you seen or heard something
and wanted to find out where or what it is and maybe buy it. Well British Airways’ website offers a
Above: Simple choice with Lufthansa Technic 56
www.onboardhospitality.com
feature to quickly see what films and CDs are played by cabin by route. You can check what it was you heard or saw BUT . . . where is the quick link from the listing to
Amazon.com to buy the CD? Surely there is another revenue source right there!
We have new systems coming out all the time
and the new UK-based Intelligent Avionics is announcing a major new initiative in Hamburg in April. It says it will be “launching its production ready, seat-integrated AURA system, in an economy class configuration”. The company claims to deliver on the four big things that airlines and air-framers urgently want to see from new IFE systems; lighter weight, more reliable, better passenger experience and at a much lower cost of ownership. The company says that AURA is an “integrated,
multi-touch, gesture controlled entertainment and communication system, suitable for all cabin classes” Gesture controlled? This worries me just a little. Having finally located my episode of Frasier, I may sneeze and then when looking up find myself half way through Texas Chainsaw Massacre or worse! No doubt all will be revealed in Hamburg. 1. Lufthansa website 2. Sarah DaVanzo “The Future of Wireless Devices on Airplanes” at CES, January 8, 2011
Dominik Mentzos
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