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Emirates makes U.S. election live for passengers on board
By siliconindia
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Friday, 07 November 2008, 20:30 IST
Dubai: As the whole world watched the results of the U.S. election, Emirates Airline did not want their passengers onboard to miss any election news. As the company had won the nomination for global broadcast of U.S. election results, all the passengers could receive fresh updated news on the historic day of the U.S.
Emirates increased the frequency of live text news updates to its aircraft via satellite from the BBC on Election Day to over 55,000 passengers across their global network. Updates were sent every 15 minutes or immediately when a major story broke or Obama was declared the winner.
A leader in in-flight technology, Emirates passengers followed the election via the text news service on the airline's ice Digital Widescreen entertainment system (ice: information, entertainment and communication). Boasting over 1,200 channels, ice features over 200 movies, hundreds of TV programs, over 100 games and an impressive selection of music.
Passengers could also share the results with friends and family onboard the flight through Emirates' seat to seat calling, or those on the ground through the in-flight telephone service that enables passengers to make direct-dialed credit card calls to anywhere in the world from their personal handset. Passengers could also send E-mail or text messages via SMS direct from their seats.
Emirates had begun offering live text news updates on all flights in 2003.
