Qantas To Offer Customers In-Flight iPads For Entertainment
Customers flying on Qantas flights will be able to take advantage of in-flight entertainment via Apple iPad devices after a successful test run of the program was completed in late 2011.
The Apple tablet program will launch aboard the company’s entire Boeing 767 fleet beginning in Q4, 2012.
The program will start with all flights along Australia’s east-coast routes and will eventually include all 23 Boeing 767-300 aircraft which means at least 5,000 units will be purchased along with extra tablets for repairs.
Content for the Apple iPad units aboard Qantas flights will be supplied by Panasonic’s eXW solution known as Qstreaming. To operate the service Qantas uses an onboard server capable of delivering more than 200 hours of on-demand entertainment via Wi-Fi access point.
It is still not clear if Qantas will allow customers to use their own iPads, the tested system relied solely on Qantas supplied Apple iPad devices.
Qantas is making a huge push towards iPad based functions, aside from in-flight entertainment the company recently suggested that it would replace pilots printed flight documents with iPad based docs. The company has even created specific iPad apps for its pilots. Qantas pilot will account for 2,200 64GB iPad purchases and the devices will reduce paper loads by 45 pounds. The more the company can reduce its flight weight the more money it can save on fuel costs.
The Australian based airline has made huge strides to better equip its works while aligning its business strategy with Apple based products, on Tuesday the company announced plans to ditch Blackberry devices and instead provide employees with Apple based iPhone devices. Qantas claims the Blackberry to iPhone conversion will save the company millions of dollars annually.
