Aircraft cabin projection technology might finally be coming into its own. While the tech has been showcased at the massive Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg — including by Boeing 787 cabin lighting system supplier Diehl Aviation — its full breadth of capabilities hasn’t generally been fully exploited by commercial airlines, at least not beyond seat numbers projected on overhead bins and starry night scenes on cabin ceilings.
But for a 24 December Air New Zealand flight from San Francisco to Auckland that, by nature of crossing the international date line would see passengers land on 26 December and miss Christmas Day on the ground, cabin crew members helped bring Christmas to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabin in a spectacular way by working in tandem with the clever and harmonious use of cabin projection and LED light illumination to display dynamic images on overhead bins and sidewalls.
Air New Zealand called the display a “dazzling onboard illumination” that added “festive magic” to the cabin interior.
“When we started and the light show began, they were taking it all in and having a look around and you could just see the surprise and delight on their faces. It was truly magical,” company head of brand Grace Blewitt said of passengers aboard the Dreamliner flight.
The festive light display, she explained, took travelers on a journey from a snowy northern hemisphere Christmas to a sunny summer beach Christmas in Aotearoa.
The video is presently receiving top marks by viewers on YouTube, with many expressing appreciation for Air New Zealand’s marketing chops — syncing aspirational and real-world passenger experience in this fashion.
As to whether Air New Zealand will do something similar on other flights, the carrier told customers on FaceBook that, “As much as we’d love to do this on every flight, it’s not entirely possible.”
And yet, perhaps Air New Zealand’s sky-high celebration will inspire other airlines to ‘surprise and delight’ passengers with their own version of a light show.
“No one was expecting it, no one was expecting to have a Christmas flight, have that kind of light show,” an Air New Zealand cabin crew member revealed.
