Etihad will update its A320 fleet to add inflight entertainment, but the carrier will stop short of installing screens on board. Instead, it has chosen AirFi‘s wireless IFE platform to be installed on ten aircraft. The goal is to provide a premium entertainment experience for passengers, comparable to the carrier’s long-haul operations, while significantly saving on costs.
We look forward to a fruitful partnership that will bring Etihad’s exceptional content library and award-winning user experience to more passengers than ever before.
– Egle Paleviciute, AirFi’s Sales Manager
The portable IFE solution allows for rapid deployment, and Etihad took advantage of this benefit. AirFi reports the period from contract signing to go-live was less than one month, thanks to intense collaboration between Etihad’s marketing teams, ground service suppliers and AirFi’s engineers.
While the deployment initially targets ten A320s in the Etihad fleet, AirFi suggests “potential for the contract between AirFi and Etihad to be expanded to include more newly added aircraft in the future.”
The concept of wireless entertainment is not new to Etihad. The carrier previously chose Panasonic Avionics’ eXW solution for part of its A320/A321 fleet.
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Is Etihad really doing away with IFE screens in favor of small, handheld, devices, like the picture shows? I am not going to pay for a business class seat in order to watch a movie on a small handheld device.
The A320s where this is rolling out didn’t have screens to begin with. They’re not pulling screens out, but adding an option where those didn’t exist.