Emirates A350 fleet to fly with Thales's AVANT Up next-generation inflight entertainment system

​Emirates, one of the largest and most prestigious international airlines, has 50 Airbus A350-900 aircraft on order, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2024. This new fleet of A350s will be equipped with Thales’s premier AVANT Up inflight entertainment solution to offer the finest cinematic and personalized customer experience. ​ Thales’s IFE system will be integrated with Emirates’ preferred next-generation connectivity solution.

Emirates’ award-winning entertainment system, “ice”, features over 5,000 channels of entertainment. ​Content will be delivered on Optiq, Thales’s new 4k QLED HDR displays. These are the only aircraft displays using Samsung’s QLED, the best technology for optimal in-seat viewing. Optiq is the first smart display in the industry to offer two Bluetooth connections, built-in Wi-Fi for passengers to pair multiple devices including phones, tablets, headphones and even game controllers, while also supporting up to 70 watts of in-screen charging for passenger devices - 10 watts from the USB-A and 60 watts fast charging from the USB-C.

Emirates is the first airline to select Thales’s award-winning Pulse. With Pulse’s patented power management technology, charging performance will be unaffected no matter how many users are charging their devices at the same time.

To enrich passenger engagement, Emirates has chosen several AVANT Up digital services. These services include highly integrated personalization features, expanded personal electronic device (PED) capabilities and user interface enhancements enabling visually-impaired passengers to have an immersive experience.

Thales and Emirates continue to build on their successful collaboration to advance the future of travel. Through the partnership in Dubai’s Aviation XLab, an aviation-specific incubator, Thales and Emirates are bringing passengers’ “Joy of Journey” to new heights.

Adel al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said: “Emirates has always regarded inflight entertainment as an essential aspect of our onboard experience, and we were in fact the first airline to put personal screens onto every single seat onboard when that was far from the norm over 30 years ago. Today, Emirates ice remains unmatched in inflight entertainment content and experience, having won best-in-the-sky awards consecutively for the past 14 years. Our investment in next-generation Thales systems for our new A350 fleet will further our lead and enable us to deliver even better experiences to our customers. Watch this space.”

Yannick Assouad, Thales Executive Vice-President, Avionics added “At Thales we are proud to partner with Emirates in their mission to Fly Better. Thales’s AVANT Up brings to Emirates the latest consumer technologies and capabilities to the aircraft. Combining our Optiq 4K QLED HDR displays, award-winning dynamic power, and next generation digital services, Emirates customers can expect the extraordinary.”

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