Estonian Air has rolled out a Wireless IFE system aboard its planes that allows customers to access newspapers, magazines, use instant onboard messaging, games, destination guides and such.
The system is available across Estonian Air Embraer E-170 and Bombardier C-900 NextGen aircraft, and looks a bit like this in action:
Estonian Air AirFi interface on an iPhone and iPad – Image, AirFi.
More importantly is the system that’s been rolled out, which require no modification to the aircraft or cabin – and it’s a cute little box like this:
The AirFi system – Image, AirFi
Or to compare the size, here it is with some Estonian Air flight attendants.
The AirFi system – Image, AirFi and Estonian Air
The system – AirFi by MI Airline is an all-in-one solution that provides 15 hours of entertainment for passengers in the sky – acting as a hotspot and delivering content. Overnight, the boxes are charged, and any new content is delivered to them as needed.
More importantly, as well as offering entertainment to passengers, the solution can be scaled to be used by staff to feedback issues like broken seats, onboard plane issues, etc.
Estonian Air will be looking to scale the product to offer more features, such as Duty Free and Streaming content.
Whilst it does not give outbound Internet access, it provides a replacement for those with WiFi enabled devices.
It’s an interesting little system for airlines who want to add Wireless IFE to their planes with the minimum of fuss.
The acid test of any system like this however – is content as usual. Providing the content is tailored appropriately the market and its passengers, I can see this being a useful feature for those on flights.
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