Qatar Airways upgrades 787-8 IFE to Thales AVANT

The Qatar Airways 787-8 fleet is getting an upgrade. The carrier will swap out the in-flight entertainment system on board its oldest Dreamliners to the Thales AVANT platform.

With the latest in-flight technology, including lightweight screens, greater content storage and full HD touch screens, we are delighted to work with Thales in bringing the most advanced AVANT IFE system on board our Boeing 787-8 fleet.

– Ms. Salam Al Shawa, Qatar Airways Senior Vice President, Marketing & Corporate Communications

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The new AVANT system gives business class passengers a 17″ HD touch screen. Economy class travelers will get the 12″ version.

The new screens are 2-3x brighter than the prior generation while also significantly lighter. They also consume less power and give off less heat.

On the server end the AVANT kit being installed on the Qatar 787-8s includes more than a terabyte of storage for content, including HD movies, TV shows and music.

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The retrofit process sees the screens and servers on board swapped out but keeps the existing seats and other infrastructure in place. This allows for the upgrade to occur without disrupting aircraft utilization and minimizing time out of service. Thales developed a turnkey upgrade process that includes all the hardware and certifications required to effect the upgrade.

The AVANT solution replaces the older i5000 platform on this fleet. While it was relatively advanced when introduced, the UX on the i5000 offering, particularly around the handset control and the menus, left a lot to be desired. It launched during the PED/tablet transition era where consumers quickly adjusted their behaviors and expectations with respect to digital interactions. And, as always, aircraft systems lagged badly in keeping up with the changes.

Fortunately the new system run on an updated processor, interface, and operating system.