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Jan 06, 2006 03:54PM
Airline Inflight Entertainment and Communications (IFE) Industry Fact SheetCurrent/Emerging High-End Inflight Technologies:• Personal “Distributed” Video: at-seat individual monitors (located in seat-back or arm-rest) that offer dozens of audio and video channels distributed on a pre-established cycle to all passengers from a central system; quickly becoming the standard on long-haul aircraft. Manufacturers of this equipment include: Panasonic Avionics Corp., Rockwell Collins, Thales Avionics Inc.• Audio/Video-On-Demand (AVOD): a wide selection of digitally stored audio, video, and interactive (web-based) content that passengers may independently ``order up`` at any time (as opposed to “Distributed Video,” which provides a pre-established cycle/schedule of programs) from their personal video monitors; passengers may also stop, start, pause, rewind programming and access other interactive features. Touch-screens and/or handsets lets passengers navigate “menus” and choose from a variety of features and content including feature films, TV programming, children’s, sport, news, documentaries, destination information, flight schedules as well as video-games, web-based content, music play-list creation, and more. AVOD is beginning to become the standard in premium cabins (first and business-class) on long-haul aircraft. See (below) list of airlines offering AVOD. Equipment manufacturers include: Panasonic Avionics Corp., Rockwell Collins, Thales Avionics Inc., Delta Belta In-Flight, Inc., Phantom Media.• Airlines Offering AVOD on Long-Haul Aircraft (not an official list; AVOD not necessarily offered on entire fleet; typically offered only in premium cabins): Air Canada, Air China (May ’06), Air Europa, Air France, Air India, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, ANA, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, EgyptAir, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, First Choice Airways, Jazz, Japan Airlines, Jet Airways India, Kenya Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, LAN, Lion Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Qantas Airways, Qatar Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, SAS, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SONG, South African Airways, SWISS, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, US Airways, VARIG Brazilian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways. Featured in premium cabins on newer long-haul aircraft; some airlines offer AVOD cabinwide on some of their fleet (Air Canada, Air India, Air New Zealand, Emirates, EVA Air, Jet Airways India, Korean Air, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SONG, South African Airways, SWISS, Thai Airways, US Airways).• Inflight Satellite TV: real-time and/or live audio/video programming fed directly to the aircraft via satellite; passengers may independently access 24 or more channels of digital-quality audio/video (similar to, or identical to, the programming they receive via home satellite dishes).• In April 2000, New York-based JetBlue Airways launched in service with 24 channels using DirecTV Satellite service (now 36 channels). Frontier Airlines was the second airline (in 2003) to offer this service cabinwide on its 17-aircraft Airbus fleet. Song—Delta Air Line’s low-cost carrier—began offering 24 channels of DISH Network programming (through Echostar) in October 2003. WestJet (Canada) launched its satellite TV service on 4 July 2004, using Bell ExpressVu, Canada’s direct-to-home satellite television service. Virgin Blue to launch in late 2005.• Qatar Airways will introduce live broadcast television, via the Rockwell Collins “Tailwind 560” multi-regional satellite TV system, by end of 2005.• Singapore Airlines in July 2005 introduced four channels of live television (BBC World, EuroNews, Eurosports, CNBC) on international flights via an inflight broadband connection (using the Connexion By Boeing system) wirelessly to passengers’ notebook computers• Inflight Satellite Radio: XM Satellite Radio offered on AirTran and (late 2005) on JetBlue Airways• Inflight SMS: passengers may send/receive e-mail and SMS (which is forwarded/received periodically or instantly via an air-to-ground satellite link to the Worldwide Web). Companies offering or developing service: OnAir (Airbus, SITA, Tenzing Communications), ARINC Inc., Panasonic Avionics Corp., ASI Entertainment, Delta Beta In-Flight, Inc. Inflight IMS offered on:• Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lauda Air, Austrian Airlines, Qantas Airways, China Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, KLM, Iberia Lineas Aereas De Espana, EVA Airways. - OVER -
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• Inflight ‘Real-Time’ Internet/E-mail Access: using passenger’s notebook computer or an installed interface, the passenger may directly access the Worldwide Web and send/receive e-mail, all in real-time, via an air-to-ground satellite link to the Worldwide Web. Currently this service is offered in revenue service through Connexion By Boeing. Other companies offering or developing this service: OnAir (Airbus, SITA, Tenzing Communications), AirTV, Thales Avionics Inc., AeroMobile (Arinc Inc., Telenor), Delta Belta In-Flight, Inc., ASI Entertainment.• On 17 May 2004, Lufthansa German Airlines launched the Connexion By Boeing real-time, wireless-based high-speed Internet connectivity service on an A340-300 flying the Munich-to-Los Angeles route. Other Airlines now featuring the Connexion By Boeing service: All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, El Al Israel Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, SAS, and Singapore Airlines. The Connexion service is soon to come on: Austrian Airlines, Etihad Airways. • Handheld Audio/Video-On-Demand (AVOD) Units: portable, individual, hand-held digital audio-video units offered to passengers; content is stored and played back on-demand from the unit’s hard drive. 15-30 or more full-length films, extensive short-subject programming, 100 music albums, digital newspapers, text news bulletins, e-books, video games, and more.
Manufacturers and Airlines in use are:
• Wencor “digEplayer”: Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, CanJet, KLM, Aeroflot, North American Airlines, Monarch, SilkAir, Independence Air, Midwest Airlines, Pacific Blue, Jetstar, Icelandair, MaxJet Airways, Martinair, MyTravel UK, Russia Jet Direct• IMS “Personal Entertainment Appliance”: American Airlines (trial), VARIG Brazilian, Jet Airways, Harmony Airways, Air Sahara, EOS Airlines• Panasonic Avionics Corp: “eXpress Portable Media Player”; launch customer is Mexicana Airlines• Global AirWorks “AirPlay”•
eDigital Corp. “eVU Mobile Entertainment Device”•
Airvod Entertainment “MACH5”•
Other Premium-Cabin IFE Features:Video games (often also featured cabinwide; multiplayer games), inseat power, noise-cancelling headsets, dolby headphone sound, larger PTV screen-size (up to 19-inch); flat-plasma monitors for main-screen video; portable DVD-players + library of films; view from externally mounted cameras; ‘graphical’ map showing aircraft’s progress on flight route, air-speed, distance/time to destination, etc.Trends in Development• Inflight Cell-Phone Use: service and technology that enables passengers to use their personal cellular phones