Vistara, India’s finest full-service carrier, has upgraded the map application in its inflight entertainment (IFE) system and launched Arc, Panasonic Avionics’ new, state-of-the-art, 3D inflight map application on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The mapping platform will be progressively made available on the airline’s brand new A321neo aircraft as well. As the launch customer of Arc, Vistara is the world’s first airline to offer this immersive inflight map experience to customers that brings a wide range of innovations to the traditional inflight map application, while expanding the concept into a fully integrated experience within the IFE and connectivity system.
Arc will be available in all cabins – in the overhead monitors, seatback screens, video handsets as well as on passengers’ mobile devices connected to the inflight Wi-Fi. Vistara passengers will now be able to choose from over 20 distinct map views in 4K for various phases of flight, incorporating everything from stunning 3D satellite imagery, local and global views, down to a personalised feature thatenables passengers to see the aircraft’s relative position to their selected map location throughout their flight. More equally engaging features such as the Kids Map and street map views will be introduced in a subsequent release.
Commenting on the addition of this yet another differentiating feature to their onboard experience, Vinod Kannan, Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer said: “Inflight entertainment plays an extremely important role in the overall experience of flying with an airline, especially on a long flight. Our partnership with Panasonic has helped us in bringing state-of-the-art IFE systems and satellite connectivity to our customers. Arc, with trailblazing capabilities, will not only help us keep our customers engaged on their flights but also open up a whole new medium for us to interact with them. We are delighted to make this cutting-edge application a part of the award-winning Vistara experience in our continuous effort to maximise customer delight.”
Arc is inspired by the latest design thinking of contemporary digital and gaming experiences and enables airlines to leverage the high viewership of inflight moving maps.
Andrew Mohr, Vice President of Digital Services and Solutions for Panasonic Avionics Corporation said: “We are delighted by this opportunity to partner with Vistara on the launch of Arc on their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Arc represents a new generation of map technology, perfectly tuned to take advantage of our latest IFE hardware. Introducing many industry firsts, this collaboration with Vistara has resulted in both companies jointly setting a new benchmark for the inflight map experience.”
Vistara is India’s only airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi internet connectivity onboard international flights operated by its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A321neo aircraft. The airline’s IFE system offers a rich multimedia library of nearly 700 hours of wide-ranging engaging content that includes movies, TV shows and audio compilations of various genres as well as games.
