EL AL selects Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect for wireless AVOD IFE

(left: Stefan Hansen, CEO Lufthansa Systems AG and Elyezer Shkedy, CEO El Al)

EL AL Israel Airlines has selected Lufthansa Systems’ wireless in-flight entertainment system BoardConnect. Using their laptops, tablet PCs or smartphones EL AL passengers will be able to access on-demand audio and video and other content.

The system will be installed on 10 Boeing 737s and two Boeing 767s.

Elyezer Shkedy, CEO of EL AL said

“BoardConnect represents a very essential asset to our overall product enhancement strategy. With BoardConnect we will be able to offer our passengers a significantly advanced travel experience”, “EL AL is one of the first airlines worldwide and the first airline that provides this service from Israel to Europe and vice versa, which offer sophisticated in-flight infotainment not only on wide-body aircraft, but on 737-class aircraft as well. This gives us a significant competitive advantage.”

Unlike conventional in-flight entertainment systems, BoardConnect does not require any complicated wiring for each seat. Instead, it works with a regular WLAN and depending on aircraft size needs only two to five access points in the cabin to stream a broad variety of content to every passenger’s device. It can be used with iOS, Android, Windows 8 as well as conventional Windows or Apple devices.

From the airline perspective, the system installation doesn’t need an extensive downtime like a major overhaul or a cabin refurbishment, thus saving costs and minimising roll-out times. The system has be designed for less complexity using of-the-shelve components and for high reliability and lower maintenance cost. Additionally it also lightweight, which is expected to save EL AL about 50 tons of fuel per 737 annually, when compared with embedded in-seat IFE systems.