Emirates’ Boeing 777X passengers will find flying an entertaining experience

The carrier has signed a deal with Thales to provide the entertainment systems on the new planes, which are scheduled for delivery from the middle of 2020.

A model of Boeing's 777X aircraft, manufactured by Boeing, at the company's stand during the 13th Dubai Airshow. Emirates has 150 of the planes on order. Duncan Chard / Bloomberg
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When passengers settle down on one of Emirates new Boeing 777X’s, due for arrival from mid 2020, they will be able to experience inflight entertainment on a whole new level.

The carrier 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.

Thales’ current Avant Top Series Ifec system does not require passenger control units or peripheral cables, while a modular seat display construction accommodates personal electronic devices, credit card reader and integrated passenger services. It is also fully laptop power capable.

“Our partnership with Thales represents a significant investment and emphasis on customer experience, which has always been a priority for us,” said Adel Al Redha, the executive vice president and chief operations officer for Emirates Airline. “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.

“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.

“Thales is proud to be selected by Emirates to provide the award winning Avant inflight entertainment solution for their future B777X fleet,” said Dominique Giannoni, the chief executive of Thales InFlyt Experience. Emirates is at the forefront of innovation in passenger experience delivering remarkable services to its customers and Thales is honoured to support this continued success.”

Emirates has an unbeaten 12-year record as the winner of World’s Best Inflight Entertainment award at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Currently, 85 per cent 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.

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