Emirates’ A350-900 takes flight with Thales’ AVANT Up IFE
Thales' AVANT Up IFE on Emirates' A350-900
Thales and Emirates are celebrating the inaugural flight of the airline’s A350-900, from Dubai to Edinburgh, on January 3. The aircraft is equipped with Thales’s AVANT Up inflight entertainment (IFE) system. Emirates has introduced the next generation of the “ice” IFE system with a suite of innovations enabled by Thales technologies designed to enhance the passenger experience on the A350-900. The system features more than 30 updated features with more to come.
Thales’ 4K QLED HDR displays offer a cinematic experience, with ultra-responsive touchscreens for seamless navigation across “ice” vast catalog of entertainment. The display features two Bluetooth connections for passengers to pair multiple devices and built-in Wi-Fi. The system is equipped with Thales’ power management solution that supports up to 60W of in-screen charging capacity.
AVANT Up provides a wide range of digital services and applications enabling Emirates to uniquely configure and continually elevate services onboard to tailor a personalized experience for every passenger. Passengers will be able to login at the seat, save preferences and continue watching their favourites. The IFE system will also be able to curate recommendations based on watch history, share personalized connecting gate information and more.
Passengers traveling on the A350 aircraft will also be able to enjoy event-based live TV with “happening now” content such as sports, news and special events. The system also features a unique Digital Video Recording capability that redefines entertainment in the sky. Passengers will also be able to binge on iceMoments, a new way to enjoy content in a short video format. Using Emirates’ “ice” user interface, passengers can access the smart search engine, a navigation bar with play controls and settings, and a pictoral user interface (UI) for kids.
Emirates and Thales have together 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.
"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.”
