APEX, Portland, Oregon | September 2015– On the opening day of the APEX show in Portland, Oregon, Thales InFlyt Experience announces that SriLankan Airlines has become the first airline in the world to fly the Thales AVANT In-flight entertainment and connectivity system with an application delivering Live News & Weather.

The carrier’s A330-300 fleet will all feature this capability enabled through the Thales AVANT IFE solution. Currently, there are four aircraft in-service with the final fleet delivery expected by the end of 2015.

SriLankan Airlines’ passengers are currently able to stay connected to the world with the latest news headlines and weather information. Live content from BBC News, AFP and AccuWeather is displayed on the passenger in-seat monitor with on demand access. Live News & Weather engages the passenger with news articles complete with full images plus 5-day weather forecasts for 50 selected cities.

SriLankan Airlines, Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rakhita Jayawardena said, “Our new A330 aircraft is designed every way to suit the needs of the modern-day traveler. With this full featured aircraft, we are aiming to provide a greater customer experience. Last year, SriLankan’s new A330 fleet became the launch customer for the latest Thales Avant in-flight entertainment system. Today, we are marking another first with Thales, by offering Thales Avant Live News and Weather.”

News and weather feeds are transmitted to the aircraft via satcom during flight to provide rich, timely content, enriching the passenger experience by enabling passengers to Stay in touch with world events during flight.

AVANT, our state-of-the-art Android In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity solution features a highly customizable passenger experience with the latest applications on the market. It is available to all advanced, single and twin aisle Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and has already been selected by many worldwide airlines.

More than 300,000,000 passengers a year across 75 partner airlines use Thales InFlyt Experience solutions, making Thales a leading provider of IFE and connectivity solutions in the world.

• Ushering in a new era of Sri Lankan aviation

Geneva | November 13, 2014– SriLankan Airlines’ first fully-connected A330-300 (registration 4R-ALL) entered commercial service on Sunday (9 November, 2014). It is equipped with both Internet OnAir and Mobile OnAir. This is an historic moment for SriLankan Airlines, with the national carrier launching a new era of world travel by providing its passengers a more luxurious on-board experience. Putting full inflight connectivity on the aircraft demonstrates the Airline’s growing commitment to redefining the flying experience.

Passengers on board the delivery flight from Toulouse to Colombo, including SriLankan Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer, G. T. Jeyaseelan, all made special mention of the aircraft’s inflight connectivity.

Once they’ve tweeted from 35,000 feet and told their friends on Facebook that they’re chatting to them live from an aircraft, passengers can knuckle down to send emails or simply continue to browse the web. The combination of Wi-Fi and mobile phone connectivity allows passengers to take a flight without missing a beat.

“We are gearing-up SriLankan to meet the challenges and ever-growing demands of the global travel industry,” said SriLankan Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer, G. T. Jeyaseelan. “Our new fleet is giving us the opportunity to introduce innovative products and services to enhance the passenger experience. Providing mobile phone and Internet connectivity is a very important element of our superior offering in a highly competitive market.”

Now in service, the aircraft will be deployed on different routes as part of the performance evaluation programme that will last for a period of three months. Consequently, SriLankan Airlines began commercial operations of its newly acquired Airbus 330-300 with a direct non-stop service to London on Sunday.

At the conclusion of the evaluation programme, the Airline will decide on a particular route for the new aircraft, based on passenger volumes, route yields, demand for Business Class, frequency and consistency of the product, as well as the number of aircraft required to support the frequencies to a particular destination. SriLankan is looking to deploy its new A330-300s primarily on Far-Eastern routes including Bangkok, Tokyo and Chinese cities of Canton and Beijing.

OnAir has an unrivalled number of roaming agreements with mobile network operators in the region. Therefore, passengers from both Sri Lanka and other countries can all access to the inflight mobile phone network throughout the flight.

“We provide inflight connectivity across the whole of Asia,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “Our unique network of roaming agreements and authorizations from national regulators means OnAir is the leading supplier in the region. We are delighted to be supporting SriLankan Airlines’ drive to break new ground in Sri Lankan aviation.”

United Kingdom | October 16th, 2013 – IFP is delighted to announce that it has signed a multi-year agreement with SriLankan Airlines to provide route-specific inflight entertainment (IFE) content services for the airline’s international flight destinations including the Far East, India, the Middle-East, Europe and Russia.

The new programming also promises to showcase Sri Lanka’s rich cultural heritage, history and business opportunities through a blend of movies, TV shows and audio recordings relevant to passengers traveling with the airline.

“Our IFE programming will reflect the excellence in service we aim to provide to each of our customers and the prestige of our airline as the national carrier of Sri Lanka,” commented Mr. Jeyaseelan G T, Chief Marketing Officer at SriLankan Airlines. “We are thrilled to have the support of IFP to ensure our inflight entertainment is of the highest standards and meets the expectations of our passengers.”

“SirLankan Airlines is a well-respected airline and this agreement underlines IFP’s expertise and commitment to providing some of the industry’s widest variety of international content,” added Wale Adepoju, COO of AIA, Parent company of IFP.