This is a little overview of the Inflight Entertainment System of Air India's Boeing 773ER aircraft. I happened to fly on their 773ER the other day on a domestic sector from HYD to DEL. The aircraft that I flew on was VT-ALO, christened "Karnataka'.
Air India uses Thales i4000 system on their long haul aircrafts mainly Boeing 772LR and 773ER. Their economy class display screens are a generous 10.6" in size and were widescreen and touchscreen. 10.6" screens are just as big as the Apple iPad if not bigger. Just below the display screen is a USB port for charging your iPod or iPad or any other mobile device that supports USB.
On the armrest of the seat, is a controller for the AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) Thales i4000 system. It had plenty of buttons to keep me busy all through the short flight of less than 2 hours.
Movies:
They had a good mix of English, Hindi and Regional movies all playable on demand by individual seat controllers or by using the touchscreens. Apart from movies, they also had TV soaps/programs for people who like them. Plenty of cartoons were available for kids to stay occupied and not cry the entire flight.
Audio:
They have a good mix of audio channels, 14 to be precise on my flight. They ranged from Bollywood hits to Country music, to Ghazals to Western Classical.
There were also a few games, that can be played using the same controller. The details of the entire content of the IFE system were available in their Inflight Magazine.
Map:
Air India offers interactive views of the position of the aircraft and the route it is taking from origin to the destination. It also offers other details like speed of the aircraft, outside air temperature, distance to destination, distance from origin and time left to reach destination.
External Camera:
There are a total of two external camera views available to the passengers. First, forward facing is activated while on ground, taxing, taking off or landing. The other, downward facing is available after we take off and the landing gear is retracted. Both of them give excellent views and are a joy to watch.
The external camera feed are also displayed on the overhead displays during taxi, take off, and landing.
Other features on the IFE included their Sky Bazaar, which is an informational page to view its duty free products available for sale onboard.
All in all, I enjoyed the Inflight Entertainment System on my short haul flight and am looking forward to try it on a longer duration flight.
On the armrest of the seat, is a controller for the AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) Thales i4000 system. It had plenty of buttons to keep me busy all through the short flight of less than 2 hours.
Movies:
They had a good mix of English, Hindi and Regional movies all playable on demand by individual seat controllers or by using the touchscreens. Apart from movies, they also had TV soaps/programs for people who like them. Plenty of cartoons were available for kids to stay occupied and not cry the entire flight.
Audio:
They have a good mix of audio channels, 14 to be precise on my flight. They ranged from Bollywood hits to Country music, to Ghazals to Western Classical.
There were also a few games, that can be played using the same controller. The details of the entire content of the IFE system were available in their Inflight Magazine.
Map:
Air India offers interactive views of the position of the aircraft and the route it is taking from origin to the destination. It also offers other details like speed of the aircraft, outside air temperature, distance to destination, distance from origin and time left to reach destination.
External Camera:
There are a total of two external camera views available to the passengers. First, forward facing is activated while on ground, taxing, taking off or landing. The other, downward facing is available after we take off and the landing gear is retracted. Both of them give excellent views and are a joy to watch.
The external camera feed are also displayed on the overhead displays during taxi, take off, and landing.
Other features on the IFE included their Sky Bazaar, which is an informational page to view its duty free products available for sale onboard.
All in all, I enjoyed the Inflight Entertainment System on my short haul flight and am looking forward to try it on a longer duration flight.
