More people than ever are flying to Australia’s regions to explore parts of the country they have previously neglected, largely because of the international border closures in place due to COVID.
If you are one of the people travelling on a regional airline for the first time, you may have noticed that the inflight entertainment isn’t up to the same standard as other domestic flights.
However, Qantas is planning on rectifying this on its QantasLink jets, with a significant upgrade to the way inflight entertainment will work in future.
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From the end of September onwards, Qantas will progressively roll out inflight entertainment that will be able to be streamed to passengers’ devices.
Passengers on QantasLink jets will be able to stream more than 2500 hours of premier movies, binge-worthy TV series and audiobooks via the Qantas Entertainment app.
Qantas expects that the technology will be available on all QantasLink jets by the second half of 2022.
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Inflight entertainment via the Qantas Entertainment app is currently offered on QantasLink’s dual-cabin 717 aircraft and the Qantas 737 and A330 fleets that fly domestically.
The 737s and domestic A330s also feature free, high-speed wifi.
The app can be downloaded free from the Apple Store and Google Play prior to departure.
Additionally, inflight entertainment can be accessed via a browser for anyone who does not have the app loaded on their device.
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Qantas customer officer Stephanie Tully said that when the rollout was complete, inflight entertainment would be available on up to 180 Qantas and QantasLink aircraft.
“Customers tell us they value being able to take time for themselves inflight to catch up on their favourite TV shows or watch movies they didn’t get to see at the cinema,” Ms Tully said.
“This investment means more of our customers will have access to inflight entertainment, particularly when travelling to smaller capital cities and regional centres.
“In a normal year, our customers watch more than 20 million hours of movies and TV shows while flying with us, so we know our streaming service is incredibly popular, especially on longer domestic routes,” she said.
“With Australia’s vaccination rollout gaining momentum, we expect the demand for travel will quickly return as restrictions ease. Improvements like this will make it even better when it does.”
What is your favourite form of inflight entertainment? How do you think inflight entertainment could be improved in Australia? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
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