Etihad Airways has equipped 10 of the Airbus A320 aircraft that recently joined its fleet with AirFi’s wireless in-flight entertainment (IFE) platform, with potential for the AirFi systems to be added to more of the airline’s new narrowbody aircraft in the future.
The complimentary streaming inflight entertainment (IFE) systems on the 10 A320s, operating from Etihad’s hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, are now live. Passengers on these aircraft can use their own mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets to connect to the wi-fi network created by AirFi’s portable streaming technology onboard (‘boxes’ stowed in the overhead lockers), from which they can access the entertainment options, ranging from international and Hollywood movies, TV series, games, music and more. The IFE service on the narrowbodies gives passengers an inflight experience closer to that available across Etihad’s long-haul fleet.
A notable aspect is the speed of the system rollout on the 10 aircraft. Effective collaboration between Etihad’s marketing teams, ground service suppliers and AirFi’s engineers enabled the deployment – from contract signing to going live – to be achieved in less than one month.
