With the advances in hardware and software capability and better connectivity, it’s an exciting time to be in IFEC – and that ‘C’ is very important!
We installed TV screens on every seat way back in 1992. Immediately, engagement was nearly 100% and remains so. Great entertainment makes flights feel shorter, and we’re not surprised that’s still the case.
Seatback TV has been super important to Emirates for over 30 years. We see that TV screen as much more than just entertainment, which I see more airlines waking up to the potential of.
Big blockbuster movies remain the most popular choice of entertainment but the big behavioural shift we have observed is the desire to binge-watch. Passengers will watch an entire box set of that TV series that they’ve never had time to enjoy. Flights are perfect for this.
TV content is hugely popular onboard and therefore important. Today, we have hundreds of entire series of TV shows.
TV and films
Demand for great movies and TV will remain for decades to come. We now offer content from over 40 countries and there’s a growing demand for more international content – something that’s also evident in this year’s Oscar nominations.
I’m most proud of our latest IFE system, with 4K screens, delivered on our new A350 fleet that entered service last year. The technical capabilities of the system include super-responsive touch screens, large memory, high-powered processors and better connectivity. It also features integration with ground IT systems that deliver real-time content, an AI-driven recommendation engine and true personalisation.
There are more than 40 fundamental new features and many were dependent on hardware capability, which has now been delivered.
Expanding choices
Content choice is expanding as servers increase in size. There are massive upheaval and consolidation underway with ground streaming services, combined with them starting to include Live TV, games and more.
I expect to see greater integration between the inflight experience and the main ground services. Maybe people will be able to start watching a TV series onboard and finish it on the ground, using their regular streaming service.
The Emirates’ IFE system is called ice, which stands for information, connectivity and entertainment. The convergence of these three areas has happened onboard and will happen with streaming services as well.
The impact of connectivity
Inflight connectivity is revolutionising everything onboard, including the entertainment experience. Today, if a flight is delayed or diverted, we see that a huge number of people visit emirates.com or use the app to manage their journey rather than post-landing. Operationally, this is helpful.
Passengers are already logging into IFE at their seats. Whatever changes to their preferences they make and where they are in a movie is loaded to their next flight for a seamless experience. That can only happen with fast, reliable connectivity.
Everyone loves the option of being continuously connected inflight with low latency and high bandwidth, now delivered with Starlink.
Second screens
There’s a trend of people watching their phone as a second screen while watching a movie. That’s also happening inflight now. In reality, it is diminishing the viewing experience, but I expect people to get better at disconnecting to immerse themselves in a great film.
Emirates is one of the few airlines that has offered Live TV consistently for over a decade. It’s hugely popular, especially when there is a big sports game on. Being on an aircraft when half the cabin is watching, or being in the lounge on an A380 where we’ll put the game on the big screen is a unique experience.
It’s part of feeling connected and, like great Wi-Fi, what was a luxury is seen now as a necessity when flying. We’ve expanded the Live TV choice and added news bulletin updates for news service. Further improvements are coming soon.
Maybe not through the IFE system, but personal devices are increasingly connected exactly as on the ground therefore the function is more natural on personal devices. With great connectivity, the Emirates app is the fastest most reliable user-friendly way to interact with us and replicating that on the seatback is challenging.
Onboard personalisation
Personalisation needs processing power – we call it ‘big brain’. The big brain is on the ground and there’s a small brain on the aircraft. The heavy lifting for personalisation is done on the ground and then packaged for the aircraft.
If you enjoy a movie and want to know what similar movies onboard may appeal to you, the referencing of movie ‘A’ to the thousands of other films onboard demands ‘big brain’ work. We’re doing this already and there is much more in development.
Use of headsets
Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) headsets are clunky and bulky, and they don’t seem to have lived up to the hype – yet!
I use VR at home for games and it’s brilliant. But you need space to turn around to enjoy the full experience. So being strapped in a seat on a plane is not ideal. For airlines to provide them is frankly a logistical nightmare due to cleaning, storage and such like.
I don’t see many people carrying them onto planes, although smart glasses with discreet in-lens displays are gaining traction instead. These devices can provide theatre-like big screen entertainment, which is important and why Emirates has always pushed to install large screens at every seat.
When it comes to IFE trends to watch over the coming years, I anticipate that there will be more integration with major ground streaming and media services. We can expect better personalisation, bigger and better screens, greater use of second screens, and much more choice of content.
