Lufthansa To Test Personal In-flight Entertainment System in YC

At the start of the winter timetable, Lufthansa will provide personal in-seat video screens for passengers in Economy Class on long-haul flights. Customers will assess in-seat video screens during practical test phase.

In order to make the individual inflight entertainment system as easy as possible for customers to operate and to take their wishes into account, Lufthansa is launching a test phase involving passengers on two of its aircraft. From 15 August, the in-seat screens will be in use on routes from Frankfurt to Detroit, Houston and Toronto.

During the test phase, two alternative types of controls will be available for the entertainment program. One option is navigation via a touch screen; the other is a control panel integrated into the armrest of the seat. Both versions permit individual access to the entire entertainment program on the in-seat screen. The menu functions can be operated in nine different languages. Lufthansa passengers can choose between German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

On the test flights, on-board surveys will also be conducted by specially trained staff. The findings of the survey will be evaluated and taken into account in the final selection of the control system for the in-seat screen.

Once the test phase has been completed, the long-haul fleet will be progressively retrofitted with the new in-seat screens. The first Lufthansa aircraft with the newly equipped Economy class will enter scheduled service in November of this year.