In 1992, Emirates took the bold decision to install a television screen in every seat in all cabin classes in its fleet, and this revolutionary move has shaped passenger expectations and the inflight entertainment (IFE) industry for years to come.
We invite you to take a journey into the past by watching an Emirates commercial about the company's 1992 installation of personal in-seat video systems behind all seats.
From the very first day of launching the inflight entertainment experience, Emirates has continued to roll out new innovations that improve entertainment and connectivity at an altitude of 40 feet, looking just ahead. Continuing to improve its inflight products and services, Emirates' exciting developments for next-generation IFE systems in its upcoming fleet of orders include large, ultra-high-definition 4k displays and enhanced Wi-Fi connectivity. Emirates is also constantly updating its extensive content on the ice platform, with 100 movies and 200 episodes added each month.
Highlights from Emirates' journey to deliver the best inflight entertainment experience can be found in this timeline.
Patrick Brannelly, Emirates' Senior Vice President of Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity, said in a statement: “Emirates' implementation of the personal screen in every seat in 1992 was considered a massive innovation in the industry. Other airlines questioned the rationale for this huge investment, which at the time was about $15 per seat.
“However, we soon realized that our passengers love to have fun during the flight. The satisfaction and loyalty of our passengers, who felt as if their journeys were taking a shorter time, also increased. Within a year, we started working on increasing the content option to 1996 channels on the Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft, which will join our fleet in 20.''
“We have never stopped improving our services. Emirates continues to add the best content from over 40 regions of the world to our IFE system, ice, and deliver this great content on the largest screens in the industry, with premium headphones and sound systems. After the introduction of satellite phones in 1993, Emirates also led the field of in-flight connectivity until becoming the first company to install systems that enable mobile phone use on board. Today, connectivity is available on all Emirates aircraft and we have already placed orders for the next generation of connectivity.”
“ice, the award-winning in-flight entertainment system of Emirates, launched in 2003 with 500 channels, now offers its passengers more than 5000 channels in more than 40 languages, including movies, music, TV shows and documentaries. Its entertainment content includes a total of 3900 hours of movies and television shows, and over 3300 hours of music and podcasts. An Emirates passenger would need to travel from Dubai to Sydney more than 500 times to enjoy the full archive.
The success of Emirates' IFE investments and strategy, along with the loyalty and positive feedback from its passengers in all cabin classes, as well as the 2022 APEX Passenger Choice Awards® “Best Inflight Entertainment” award and the “Skytrax World's Best” award annually since 2005 It reveals numerous industry awards, including the “Inflight Entertainment” award.
In addition to entertainment, the Emirates ice platform also offers a number of useful features: the ability to check your flight status while underway; real-time view of the sky during takeoff and landing via cameras mounted on the nose, tail and underbody of the aircraft; A helpful travel guide to Emirates' hub Dubai is EmiratesRED; the world's first in-flight television shopping channel and a variety of personal development content, including LinkedIn Learning.
Emirates passengers can browse the wide range of content available on ice and create their own playlists on the Emirates Mobile App and sync them onboard for a more personalized travel experience.
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