DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: flydubai, Dubai’s pioneering low cost airline, has launched its enhanced in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, offering more movies, TV programmes and audio than any other carrier in its class.
Since its launch in November 2010, the ‘Fiber-To-The-Screen®’ (‘FTTS®’) system from Lumexis has broken new ground in IFE thanks to the fibre-optic technology enabling movies to be shown in high definition in the air for the first time. Now, flydubai is leading the way again with an unprecedented increase in movies, TV shows and music. There is also a new payment model offering TV and movie packages from AED 10 rather than the former pay-per-show format, making the system even better value for money for passengers.
Passengers will be able to choose from 149 Hollywood, Bollywood and Arabic films – an 830% increase from the 16 movies offered when the IFE was first installed. Included in this are brand new releases, including The Descendants and Real Steel, plus the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time.
Elsewhere, there will be 154 TV shows – up from 32 in 2010 plus 250 music albums, providing more than 500 hours of non-stop entertainment.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: “We are always looking for ways to enhance the flight experience and offer our passengers more choice of optional extras. We also want to pioneer new standards in aviation, and we have done it again as these developments put our IFE ahead of all other low cost carriers around the world. The increased content also means that even our frequent flyers will be able to watch something new every time they travel.”
In another first for low cost carriers, news from English-language website Emirates 24/7 and the Arabic daily newspaper Al Bayan have been added to the system. Sections include sport, features and business in addition to local and global news. And with the news updated every time the aircraft land in Dubai, passengers will be kept up-to-date both day and night.
Meanwhile, the revised payment model now includes a Basic package for AED 10, which offers customers access to all TV programmes, audio and games. Alternatively, they can choose the Premium package for AED 30, which includes everything in the Basic package plus movies. Daily newspapers, flydubai news, the route map and information, however, will continue to be free of charge on all flights.
“No matter which package passengers choose, I am sure they will be as impressed as we are with the choice on offer. We now have more than two thirds of the fleet fitted with this system and with more aircraft on order, more passengers will be able to take advantage of this unique product throughout 2012 and beyond,” added Al Ghaith.
