Emirates has introduced a number of passenger experience firsts aboard its new Airbus A350-900. Now in revenue service on Dubai-Edinburgh and ready to be deployed on flights to Kuwait and Bahrain from 8 January, the three-class twinjet is the first of 65 new A350-900s destined for the carrier.
In addition to carrying Airbus’ brand new Ka-band supplier-furnished HBCplus inflight connectivity system, as powered by Viasat’s Global Xpress network, the A350-900 is fitted nose-to-tail with the next-generation of Emirates’ ice inflight entertainment, as supported by Thales’ AVANT Up IFE hardware. This arrangement marks Emirates’ venture into a multi-source approach for embedded in-seat IFE, as the carrier is traditionally a customer of Panasonic Avionics IFE.
AVANT Up boasts 4K QLED HDR displays and provides what Thales insists is “the best picture quality on any aircraft” — a lofty claim that may be challenged by rivals including Panasonic, which has taken the OLED route for its own next-gen IFE system, Astrova.
Industry’s OLED versus QLED versus mini LCD touchscreen arms race aside, Emirates passengers have reason to be excited.
The AVANT Up display features not one but two Bluetooth connections for passengers to pair multiple devices, a functionality also debuting on Ethiopian Airlines’ first A350-1000. And like Ethiopian, the system comes equipped with Thales’ Crystal Cabin Award (CCA)-winning power management solution to ensure passengers arrive at their destination fully charged.
In the ‘new feature’ category, Thales says Emirates’ A350-900 passengers can enjoy “industry-first event-based live TV with ‘happening now’ content such as sports, news and special events. The system also features a unique Digital Video Recording (DVR) capability that redefines entertainment in the sky.”
According to passenger experience news site PaxEx.Aero, Thales’ new live TV offering with DVR functionality is dubbed 360Stream, and works by caching the live stream as it’s fed to the aircraft, which in turn enables pause, rewind and immediate replay functionality.
Beyond live TV, Emirates passengers will be able to binge on iceMoments, a new way to enjoy content in a short video format. Image: Thales
In another first, Emirates and Thales have introduced a UI for passengers with vision assistance needs. “The UI supports audio-cue navigation assistance, voice metadata feedback, touch and swipe gesture controls, and a large selection of audio-descriptive content to create a more inclusive and accessible travel experience for all,” says Thales.
Emirates’ debut of this solution signals industry’s growing adoption of accessible IFE, and brings another Crystal Cabin Award-winning product to the skies, as Thales won the prize for ‘Best Customer Journey Experience’ with this UI suite in 2024.
Emirates passengers are accustomed to accessing a vast library of content onboard every flight. Thales says AVANT Up enables Emirates to uniquely configure and continually elevate services to tailor a personalized experience for every passenger.
“Passengers will be able to login at the seat, save preferences, and continue watching their favorites. The IFE system will also be able to curate recommendations based on watch history, share personalized connecting gate information, and much more,” it says.
The 312-seat aircraft features 32 lie-flats in Business Class configured 1-2-1 (the same new staggered business seat as found on Emirates’ Boeing 777s), 21 Premium Economy seats in a 2-3-2 layout, and 259 Economy Class seats with six-way adjustable headrests in a 3-3-3 arrangement and pitched at 31-32″.
Thales’ AVANT Up QLED displays are sized 20″ in Business Class, and 13.3″ in both Premium Economy and Economy.
“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,” says Thales InFlyt Experience CEO Niels Steenstrup.
“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.”
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