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This enables streaming of over 200 hours of inflight entertainment content via wireless technology from Lufthansa Systems to individual tablets supplied by Qantas. Later in the trial, passengers travelling on the 767 also will be able to watch inflight entertainment on their laptops, smartphones, tablets or other wifi-enabled devices.

Executive manager customer experience Alison Webster said: “We are very pleased to be the first airline in the world to trial this wireless streaming product. ” Customers will be able to download the Q Streaming app from the iTunes store and those using their laptops will need to download Microsoft Silverlight before takeoff.

There will also be a content refresh of the system during the second phase of the trial, to include movies added to the programming.

“The Q Streaming trial has been well received by our customers and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Webster said. “Customers have enjoyed the flexibility and ease of use and the wide range of content available. ” Given the positive customer feedback, from the end of February Qantas will continue to enable customers to access Q Streaming content via their own wifienabled devices on the dedicated 767 while plans are finalised to extend its application across the fleet.

The innovative infotainment system is based on Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect, a wifi-network comprising an onboard server and five access points distributed throughout the cabin.

There’s no wiring so the system is much easier to install than existing IFE systems.

It can be integrated during regular maintenance checks and without additionaldowntime, saving up to 50 per cent in installation costs compared to legacy systems.

And elimination of wiring and data distribution hardware can mean weight savings of nearly half a tonne for a Boeing 767-300, which cuts annual fuel consumption by about 20 tonnes per aircraft as well as operating and maintenance costs.

According to senior vice-president regional management Asia-Pacific at Lufthansa Systems Olivier Krüger, the system makes it possible for airlines to offer new forms of customer communication, information and services: “New services can generate additional revenues for airlines and airlines can also customise their contact with each passenger.

“No matter where they are these days, people expect to be able to use entertainment services. They want a range of music to suit every taste, video on demand, games – and the internet, of course, with its vast number of information and access to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. ” He also emphasised that what had been until now a limited ability to provide such services has been transformed into a world of new opportunities thank to the Board- Connect solution.

Kruger added that most current IFE solutions are complex and hard-wired and so expensive to purchase and install, difficult to maintain and inflexible in use. Board- Connect takes an entirely new approach and in principle, is an intranet on a plane that replaces a complex wired network with a wireless network based on established standards.

Instead of connecting every single seat to the on-board content server through several kilometres of cables, BoardConnect has only a few access points. Passengers log on to this network with their own laptops, smart phones or tablet PCs to access the content on the server. Alternatively, integrated seat-back screens or mobile devices provided by the airline can be used to access the wifi network.

BoardConnect also uses standard software.

For example, multimedia content is served up via Microsoft Silverlight, a browser plug-in that comes pre-installed on most new devices. Silverlight works with Windows and Mac operating systems.

For iPhone, iPad or Android users, apps are being developed and will be available on the Apple App Store and the Android Marketplace.

Once an aircraft is additionally equipped with broadband Internet access, passengers also will be able to send and receive e-mail while in the air and access all of the same online content available to them on the ground.

Lufthansa Systems says BoardConnect offers airlines a number of advantages, including installation and maintenance.

While the installation of conventional IFE systems requires extensive aircraft downtime, BoardConnect can be fitted during routine overnight layovers or maintenance checks. If the airline subsequently changes its cabin layout by expanding its business class or putting in more rows of seats,it will not be affected.

Kruger says BoardConnect has very few components so is much easier to maintain and is extremely reliable: “This is very important to airlines because passengers view the failure of an in-flight entertainment system as a major shortcoming, especially on long-haul flights. It also takes considerably more time and effort to find and correct faults in traditional systems due to their complexity. ” Kruger says an equally important feature for airlines is the significant improvement to on-board services: “Board- Connect heralds the age of interactivity.

In-flight entertainment and services can now be integrated on a single platform in the aircraft. ” And he adds that the BoardConnect interface is user friendly and based on conventional web browser technology: “Airlines can skin the interface to match their corporate design and provide any information they want, including passenger-specific data on connecting flights, special offers or mileage status. ” Passengers also will be able to use Board- Connect to choose their meals, order drinks or purchase goods from the on-board shop.

Lufthansa Systems says airlines can quickly and easily integrate their own services or those of partners, which opens up new opportunities for generating additional revenues on-board – an aspect increasingly important in light of the ongoing pressure on ticket prices.

Lufthansa Systems also is touting the system’s positive effect on an airline’s environmental performance due to its weight.

For an Airbus A340-600 with 380 seats, the system saves about 900 kilograms, or the weight of nine passengers, which corresponds to fuel savings of 47 tonnes per aircraft per year. The savings are even greater if no seat-back screens are installed.

Lufthansa Systems has offered a mobile infotainment system for cruise ships some years. It says that this system has proven itself over and over again thanks to great reliability, cost-efficiency and the ability to easily provide guests with up-to-date, personalised information. BoardConnect is based on the same principle but with one critical difference: it is wireless.

Qantas is also rolling out an inflight connectivity pilot on selected A380s from February. Announcing the initiative late last year, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said Qantas will deploy internet capability on six of its A380s on designated flights between Sydney and Los Angeles and Melbourne and Los Angeles. “From February, our customers travelling between Australia and Los Angeles will have the opportunity to participate in our inflight connectivity trial and communicate online from the 35,000ft,” he said.

Joyce says they will be able to access the internet via their wifi-enabled personal electronic devices on Qantas for the first time, accessing the Internet in exactly the same way as a normal wifi hotspot, where customers pay with their credit cards and surf the web, including using email. The connectivity service is provided by OnAir and uses Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband and global satellite-based connections to transfer data between the passengers in the aircraft to the ground.

Initially, the trial will be available to customers travelling in first and business and will form part of Qantas’s ongoing strategic evaluation of connectivity options, including the review of next- generation technology platforms.

Rival Virgin Australia, meanwhile, announced in December that it had also engaged Lufthansa Systems to develop the same system as Qantas is trialling on its 767-300. Virgin group executive product and guest services Martin Daley said the two companies had signed a letter of intent to produce and install BoardConnect from mid-2012.

“This system, considered to be at the leading edge of inflight entertainment technology, provides guests with a wide range of products including video and audio streaming delivered on demand to personal entertainment devices or wi-fi enabled laptops,” said Mr Daley.

“Our new entertainment system will provide guests with more options than ever before to tailor their inflight entertainment experience to their personal tastes along with the freedom to choose how and when they access inflight entertainment. ” Daley also noted that the growing number of travellers carrying their own devices meant this type of inlight entertainment system would allow the airline to remain at the forefront of technology.

And last year Jetstar also launched a new iPad inflight entertainment system designed by Australian based Stellar Inflight. Established in 1974, Stellar is the brainchild of Rob and Helen Lynch.

Answering a Qantas advertisement in a Sydney newspaper, The Lynches won the contract to provide Qantas with tailored inflight audio programming and production, a job it still does today, almost 40 years later.

Today, Stellar is one of the most respected IFE content service providers, offering video and audio programming, video and audio production and post production, graphic design for print and digital platforms and a range of specialist IFE technical services tailored to meet any airline’s needs.

In partnership with Bluebox Avionics, Stellar has tailored the iPad to offer passengers new release Hollywood, Australian and Japanese movies, the latest Gameloft games, the latest TV series, top selling ACP e-magazines, children’s e-books, a kids content zone, massive music library and the latest Warner Music videos.

Securing content approval and licensing deals with major Hollywood studios, including NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing and Warner Brothers Pictures, Jetstar is the world’s first airline to offer new release Hollywood movies on the iPad.

Stellar also has worked with leading gaming developer Gameloft to create unique games for Jetstar customers as well as signing a deal with ACP magazines to offer e-magazine content from their popular publications. It will also feature e-books, all of which are written and illustrated by primary school-aged children.

Stellar Inflight chief operating officer Michael Reilly says the iPad leads the way in offering passengers and airlines the best in inflight entertainment: “This launch is a real testament to innovation and it is exciting to be spearheading a world-first venture with Jetstar. The design of the iPad and its functionality lend itself perfectly to be the ultimate inflight entertainment device. ” With its 787 fleet still years away, Lufthansa Systems seems to have a solution to one of Qantas major problems – the dated or non-existent IFE options on its 767s.

Wireless technology and the iPad seem set to revolutionise the passenger cabin in the same way that seat-back video systems did in the early 1990s and give airlines –both legacy and LCC – a versatility that just a few years ago was only a dream.