Qatar Airways has announced its A350 fleet will soon offer passengers fully touchless in-flight entertainment technology.
The Zero-Touch technology is being introduced in partnership with the Thales AVANT IFE system and will allow passengers to pair their personal electronic devices with their seat-back IFE screen, enabling them to use the devices to access the entertainment options offered through the airline’s Oryx One in-flight entertainment system.
Industry first
The Oryx One system offers passengers up to 4,000 blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games and more.
Qatar Airways says it will be the first global airline to offer this type of service. In another first for the industry, the carrier has revealed it is also set to become the first airline in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to offer Business and Economy passengers the option to pair their personal Bluetooth headphones with the onboard seatback IFE system in all cabins onboard its Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker commented on the announcement: “As an industry leader in the fight against COVID-19 and the first global airline to recently achieve a 5-Star rating in the coveted Skytrax Airline Safety Rating, Qatar Airways is committed to ensuring the highest standards of safety and hygiene on board its aircraft at all times.
“The introduction of the state-of-the-art Zero-Touch technology, and enabling passengers to use their personal Bluetooth headset on board is an important step in taking our already rigorous and stringent COVID-19 precautions to another level, limiting passenger surface contact and preventing any possible spread of infection on board.
“We hope it provides yet further assurance of the safety of air travel, as well as offering passengers on board increased confidence that they are enjoying the most consistently advanced customer experience available in the sky.”
In other news for the airline, it announced on Thursday that its freight division has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICEF for a five-year period to support UNICEF’s Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative, working closely with the agency and the airline’s freight forwarders to prioritise the transport of medicines, vaccines, medical devices and critical supplies.
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