Japanese carrier, All Nippon Airways (ANA) is making Sony WH-1000XM3 noise-cancelling headphones available to all its first-class passengers on international routes from Tokyo to Chicago, Frankfurt, Honolulu, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. This model of headphones has been optimised for use in the aircraft cabin and was successfully trialled on the airline’s Flying Honu scheme Airbus A380 in May 2019.
In addition to noise-cancellation technology, the WH-1000XM3 headphones feature fully integrated ‘smart listening’ technology that automatically adjusts output to suit the environment, and a built-in ‘NC Optimizer’ function that optimises sound quality according to changes in atmospheric pressure, making it ideal for use in aircraft. In addition, the NC Optimizer alters its sound output to sync with the contours of each individual listener’s ears.