BlueBox reveals impressive stats for take-up of iPads as IFE

Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, has selected the Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment system for business-class cabins on Boeing 767 aircraft, becoming the latest in a long string of carriers to adopt the solution, which is based on a repurposed Apple iPad.

The portables “will provide El Al customers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content”, says Bluebox. It will replace the current portable solution that is nearing the end of its life at El Al.

This deal “is seen very much by El Al as a trial, so we’re hopeful it will be extended into other areas”, says David Brown, joint managing director of Bluebox.

Tal Kalderon, inflight entertainment manager at El Al, believes that passengers will be delighted with the features and content of the new system. “The iPad sets the global standard as the preferred device for the delivery of portable inflight entertainment. The Bluebox Ai solution provides access to a rich content set in a package that is engaging to use and intuitive for passengers while being very easy for us to manage,” he says.

El Al joins a rapidly expanding community of airlines that have selected Bluebox Ai, including Jetstar, British Airways, Scoot and others. Brown tells the the APEX editor’s blog that the El Al deal “will push us up to around 6,000 iPads flying so it has been a pretty spectacular 12 months for us”.

These airlines are experiencing utilisation rates of 100% on some flights which is an unprecedented statistic in the world of portable IFE and clear proof that passengers are greatly enjoying our inflight iPad solution, adds Brown.