Air New Zealand has removed restrictions on its in-flight entertainment system being switched off during take off and landing.
The carrier has received regulatory approval for the move by reworking departure and arrival procedures to accommodate safety briefings and in-flight announcements, and ensuring that “the few seats with in-arm video screens” are stowed during take off for safety reasons.
Passengers on ANZ’s aircraft between London and LA, Hong Kong and Auckland will be the first to benefit from the loosening of restrictions, as they are already fitted with seat-back TV screens. Later this year the carrier’s short haul fleet of Boeing 767 and A320 aircraft will be progressively fitted with new on-demand touch-screen entertainment providing the same boarding to landing entertainment facilities, and by December all of ANZ’s international short-haul and long-haul aircraft will have personal seat-back entertainment.
The airline says the move will add “at least an extra hour of viewing time per flight”. Says Scott Carr, Air New Zealand’s European general manager:
“Customers can spend a significant amount of time in their seat prior to departure, especially with the time it takes to board a wide-body aircraft seating more than 300 people. There’s also the time when the aircraft is waiting for air traffic control clearance to land and descending to the airport when passengers would not previously have had access to the entertainment system.”
For more information visit airnewzealand.co.uk.
Report by Mark Caswell
