The next generation of Qatar Airways planes will fly with the latest generation of inflight entertainment. The carrier selected Thales FlytEDGE to power the entertainment experience for its upcoming A321neo fleet.
As our digital transformation journey evolves, we are thrilled to partner with Thales to introduce FlytEDGE onto our entertainment platform. – Xia Cai, SVP Product Development, Qatar Airways
FlytEDGE can power in-seat screens on board, while simultaneously delivering the same user experience and content to passenger devices via streaming. Built using the Thales Onboard Data Center platform, FlytEDGE has access to up to 96TB of storage for edge caching, allowing more efficient streaming of popular content.
Read more: Thales FlytEDGE delivers a new paradigm for in-flight entertainment
The carrier also anticipates faster and easier integration of its other group brands and applications, thanks to the web-based architecture of the FlytEDGE platform.
A Connected IFE Experience….Eventually
As with the rest of the fleet, Qatar Airways plans to equip the A321neo planes with Starlink’s inflight internet service. And the FlytEDGE platform – and the personalization advances, dynamic updates, and other cloud-based functionality it promises – is far more capable in a connected environment. But the companies stopped short of committing to a fully integrated IFE/IFC solution at the product launch.
Ultimately, however, it only makes sense that the cloud-based IFE platform will take advantage of an on-board connection to deliver the full suite of services it is capable of.
Indeed, when asked about the integration during the APEX EXPO in Long Beach, CA this week, Qatar Airways’ Xia Cai noted “It should” integrate with the Starlink system, while Thales’ Kirk Wiedermeyer countered, “It will.”
So expect to see that at some point down the line.
The solution also includes power at each seat to ensure passengers arrive with devices powered for their destination.
Qatar Airways is the first airline to publicly announced adoption of the FlytEDGE platform. It follows on Thales IFE deployments across the carrier’s 787-8, A350, and A380 fleets. The carrier has orders for 50 A321neo aircraft.
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