EMIRATES WINS 2008 BEST AIRLINE INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT AWARD

		BEST INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
	"the world's most respected and recognised Airline Awards"

"Four must be a lucky number for Emirates" said Edward Plaisted (CEO of Skytrax) "as they pick up the Award for Best Airline Inflight Entertainment for the 4th year in succession. This was another very hotly contested section of the World Airline Survey, and we witnessed the closest finish ever in terms of Emirates final push for 1st place ahead of Singapore Airlines in 2nd. We congratulate Emirates for retaining their distinctive reputation in this Survey category, and determination to remain at the forefront of inflight entertainment concepts."

"The standards of inflight entertainment have improved considerably across the airline industry in recent years, and passengers simply expect their chosen airline to provide AVOD programming, so product differentiation becomes more difficult to achieve for the world leaders in this section" added Plaisted.

This year's survey was very much a case of Emirates ICE versus Singapore Airlines New KrisWorld, both of which offer more than enough programme options to keep the most frequent flyers satisfied. Other strong performances in the survey were again achieved by Cathay Pacific (3rd) and Virgin Atlantic (4th).

"Next year I guess we will be including survey options to cover the recent introduction of mobile phone usage onboard flights, and whilst this is an area where there are very verbal debates for and against this option, it is too early to determine the long term viability, popularity or impact on passenger satisfaction" says Edward Plaisted. "The market will become increasingly competitive later this year, when Qantas receive their first A380 aircraft equipped with the next-generation inflight entertainment system."

Survey respondents nominated airlines for the Best Inflight Entertainment Awards, based upon the Quality attributes for the different factors listed below:

Best total quality of Inflight Entertainment
Best selection of movies - (incl language choices)
Best selection of  TV / documentary programmes
Best selection of Audio programming
Best selection of Games /  other interactive options
Reliability of AVOD programming
Ease of usage for AVOD
Size and clarity of PTV screen
Quality of headset / sound quality

Further enquiries should be directed to:

Mr Peter Miller
Marketing Director
SKYTRAX RESEARCH
E-mail: miller@airlinequality.com