JetBlue‘s A220-300 fleet will bring a new passenger experience to the airline. But it will do so with familiar partners. The carrier announced today that the planes will fly with the Thales AVANT inflight entertainment (IFE) solution on board. Delivery for the first of seventy A220s to the carrier is due in 2020.
In 2000, JetBlue set out to disrupt the industry as the first airline to offer live TV on every seatback, on every plane. We’re extremely proud to continue this long-standing relationship with our partners at Thales, and look forward to introducing a brand-new, custom-for-JetBlue generation of in-flight entertainment on our A220 aircraft.
– Mariya Stoyanova, director of product development, JetBlue
The planes will feature 10″ HD screens at every seat, offering an audio/video on demand entertainment suite. Picture-in-picture and personal device pairing are also part of the AVANT solution for JetBlue. Passengers will also have USB and AC power available at their seats to keep devices charged throughout their flights. PaxEx.Aero previously revealed that the JetBlue A220 cabin would seat 140 passengers on board.
Thales (via its acquisition of former JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV) has been part of the JetBlue experience since the carrier’s first flight. The systems matured over the years, moving from just live television on board to a more full-featured AVOD IFE solution. The latest “Phase 2” A320 retrofit planes also include the AVANT solution, Thales’s top-end IFE offering.
JetBlue has relied on Thales to be their inflight entertainment business partner for almost 20 years, and we are proud to continue building on this partnership with the airline’s first A220 fleet. This award further demonstrates Thales’s commitment in supporting JetBlue’s ambitions to provide their passengers a superior air travel experience.
– Philippe Carette, Chief Executive Officer, Thales InFlyt Experience
JetBlue joins Delta Air Lines and Air Canada in putting IFE screens at every seat on board its A220 planes. The 10″ screen size is comparable to that of those carriers’ configurations. All three carriers will also have comparable inflight wifi services available on board. Delta and Air Canada chose 2Ku while JetBlue previously announced that the inflight wifi for the A220 fleet would be provided by Viasat. In all cases the new, smaller planes are flying with a configuration very similar to their larger brethren in the fleets, delivering a more consistent passenger experience on board.
More from the 2019 APEX EXPO
- Gogo makes a China 2Ku play
- Cabin-wide Bluetooth audio to fly in 2021
- EL AL brings USB-C in-seat power online
- Viasat extends its SAS reach with long-haul planes
- JetBlue selects Thales AVANT for A220 IFE
- Moving Maps and much more coming to Vistara’s long-haul fleet
- PaxEx Update: APEX EXPO
- Inflight WiFi for JSX slips to 2020
- AERQ wants to be more than just a Welcome Board
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