Philippine Airlines Introducing Wireless In-Flight Entertainment

Philippine Airlines is the launch customer of OnAir Play, a Wireless-In Flight Entertainment product, that will make the airline the first carrier in Asia Pacific to provide passengers with completely integrated in-flight entertainment and connectivity. 

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The new service will eventually be made available in flight on all of the airline's international routes. The OnAir technology enables passengers to enjoy multimedia in-flight entertainment through a wireless internet network available on the aircraft. Philippine Airlines is already offering passengers the wireless internet service by OnAir on select Boeing 777 aircraft. 

Through the enhanced system, passengers will be able to download or stream on-demand content of their choice to their personal electronic device including smart phones, tablets, and laptop computers just as they would at home. Because the wireless in-flight entertainment will be integrated with the plane's live internet connectivity, time-sensitive information including live news and sports will be regularly updated during the flight. 

Passengers travelling on Philippine Airlines will be able to choose from a wide selection of films that cater to a variety of passengers. Magazines will also be available to read through the e-reader feature that will provide passengers with instant access to popular publications such as Bon Appetit, National Geographic, Vanity Fair, and Conde Nast Traveller. The airline also plans to integrate its duty free catalogue into the system so that passengers may view a digital version. 

“We are expanding our long-haul network rapidly, with plans to open routes to Australia, the US and beyond,” said Ramon Ang, President of Philippine Airlines. “We are expanding our fleet and we want to offer the latest cabin entertainment options available. There is no doubt that merging entertainment with connectivity provides a fun way of spending time during the flight. Our passengers can now access the content they want, when they want it, on the device of their choice.”

Philippine Airlines plans to retrofit its entire A330 fleet, which already feature Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir to offer passengers a completely integrated in-flight entertainment and connectivity experience. However, it remains unclear if passengers will be required to pay additional fees to use this service in-flight. 

PAL is not installing traditional in-flight entertainment on any of its newly ordered aircraft from Airbus and has instead opted to carry iPads that are being made available to passengers. In order to enjoy the wireless in-flight entertainment, passengers will require their own tablet, smart phone, personal computer, or rent an iPad during the flight.