Etihad Airways has confirmed that it will upgrade its Bluebox Ai iPads to include Bluebox aIFE – Bluebox’s accessible IFE platform for visually impaired passengers.
This announcement follows Virgin Atlantic’s deployment of the system in December 2017, which won a 2018 Crystal Cabin Award.
Etihad has been a customer of Bluebox since 2013, providing Bluebox Ai iPads primarily for service recovery purposes. Bluebox will shortly update the current iPads, allowing visually impaired passengers to enjoy the same IFE content as is provided to other passengers via the seatback IFE. The combined build enables cabin crew to switch between the standard IFE mode (Bluebox Ai) and accessibility mode (Bluebox aIFE), depending on a passenger’s needs.
“We recognise the industry-wide need for a more accessible passenger experience and felt it important to make our IFE more accessible to our visually impaired guests,” said Jamal Al Awadhi, VP of product and guest experience at Etihad Airways.
David Brown, business development director at Bluebox added, “Our hope is that with this announcement and more focus on accessibility during Aircraft Interiors Expo, more airlines will deploy solutions like ours to address the needs of passengers with disabilities.”
