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Whether it was Dassault's in-house aircraft interiors solutions for the Falcon line or Design Q's work on a Bulgaria BAe-146, aircraft interiors rocked in Dubai (as did the Saab laser-guided missile defense system - now that's a big gun!) .

Jon Ostrower, aka Flightblogger, joined me in wrapping up day one of the Dubai air show.

There I was, skipping down an aisle at the Dubai air show, and who should I spy but my friends at EMS. Hadn't I just visited with these nice folks at WAEA in Palm Springs? Why yes, but we sat and a little chat anyways because, even in the heat of an air show, I've got IFEC on my mind.

Here's a pic of our gathering. I know the lighting casts halos on their heads, but fear not, EMS is not the second coming. They are, however, saints for taking time out of their busy schedule to talk to me.



   

I arrived in Dubai a few hours ago, after taking a thoroughly enjoyable flight on Emirates' 777-200LR out of JFK.

I've been writing about the carrier's stellar in-flight entertainment system ICE (information, communication, entertainment) for years, but this was the first time I've actually had a chance to  try it (in business class, praise the Lord).

I must admit I found the system a bit overwhelming at first. So many choices! But, on a 13-hour flight, having loads of choices is a very, very good thing.

The system, based on Panasonic hardware and CoKinetic software, further solidified my belief that embedded hardware IS NOT headed for the scrap heap, as some individuals have suggested. Indeed, having a robust IFE AND C offering (yes, Emirates offers sat phones and narrowband SMS/email) is crucial for long-haul flights.

I've taken my daughter's Barbie doll with me on this trip to stay in touch by sending snaps back to the munchkin. Here, Barbie does Bob Barker proud and showcases the funky, wireless multi-purpose seat control/system control in business class.



Emirates is making its "C" offering even better by equipping its fleet with AeroMobile's in-flight mobile connectivity solution. The Emirates birds now flying to the USA have not yet been equipped with AeroMobile, but that will come in due time.

AeroMobile chief commercial officer Peter Tuggey in August told me that, at that time, Emirates' AeroMobile traffic as a whole indicates that 35% of usage occurs on routes to Europe, 16% to the Middle East, 15% to North Asia, 4% to South Asia, 21% to Africa and 9% on Australasian route.

"When we look at where the traffic comes from, although we've got a lot of aircraft installed and Emirates moves aircraft around, the results that we have to date are representative of having 40% of the Emirates fleet installed. As we get on some more of their [Boeing] 777s, I think we'll see their traffic levels increase for the USA and Asia as well," he said.

So what's the #DXB09 in this blog post's headline, you ask. That's the hashtag that all aerospace journalists will be using when reporting from and about the Dubai air show on Twitter. I'm currently ensconced in the Flightglobal news room. Yeah, we got this baby wired and ready and rock n' roll. Come and join the party at Flightglobal's Dubai air show landing page.

One has to wonder just how peeved is All Nippon Airways (ANA). The Boeing 787 launch customer, which has watched the aircraft programme suffer through delay after delay, has decided to roll out its latest in-flight products and services - branded "Inspiration of Japan" - on its Boeing 777-300ERs starting in February.

You can see the entire upgrade plan here. Be sure to check out the IFE, including embedded Panasonic eX2 IFE screens and Apple iPod connectivity in every cabin. Very sweet stuff.

But what about the 787s? In January 2007 ANA became the first operator to select Panasonic's eX2 IFE system for its initial batch of 787s. Deliveries of the first 787-8s to ANA were originally scheduled to begin in 2008.

By the time ANA actually receives its eX2-equipped 787s, ANA will already be flying 777s with the Inspiration of Japan offering for quite a while. The carrier has earmarked its 767-300ERs for eX2 equipage as well.
 
Will that make the ANA 787 seem less inspiring?

ANA's statement doesn't make any mention of in-flight connectivity for the 777s and 767s. The carrier previously offered Boeing's now-defunct Connexion service on its 777-300ER aircraft and had plans to roll it out across its long-haul fleet (do the disappointments never cease?)

Of course, Boeing is still deciding on just what linefit solution it is going to offer customers in that regard.

Susanna Ray over at Bloomberg has written a bang-on good piece about how Rockwell Collins is seeking acquisitions.

Key pars (but do read the entire article):

Rockwell Collins Inc., the maker of cockpit instruments and radios, is looking for "bolt-on, tuck- in acquisitions" after generating a record level of operating cash flow, Chief Executive Officer Clay Jones said.

"There's a good pipeline of opportunities out there, and we're definitely looking for those opportunities," Jones said in an interview today, declining to specify which areas the company would target. "We have plenty of capacity."

This got me to thinking. In light of Rockwell Collins' recent comments to me about how it is interested in potentially offering seat-back IFE on single-aisle aircraft, should the company think about broaching Lumexis and/or IMS or others?

Rockwell Collins director of cabin systems marketing Andrew Mohr said the firm's vast experience in providing IFE and connectivity solutions to the business jet market means that there is "a lot of in-house technology that could be very applicable to enhancing either in-seat or overhead [commercial IFE] so we don't have to go with a partner" but he noted that there are "also good partnering opportunities as well".

Lumexis and IMS have some pretty nifty IFE offerings, including the fiber-to-the-screen (FTTS) system and RAVE, respectively, for example. I'm not suggesting for one second that either of them are asking to be bought, ahem.
 
But Rockwell Collins currently only offers drop-down IFE. Is it time for Rockwell Collins to get back into the seat-back IFE game?

In-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) giant Thales has opened a new "Connectivity Suite" in London.

The brand new facility enables Thales to give a first hand experience of the latest airborne connectivity capabilities available from the manufacturer.

For example, Thales can demo its TopFlight satcom and TopConnect solutions, which provide Wi-Fi, VoIP, UMA, PBX and web browsing functions over Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband (SBB) aeronautical service.
 
The suite is designed to be interactive so users can try their own "connected devices" over the Wi-Fi & SBB link.

Word of the new Connectivity Suite comes as Air France has rolled out its new Airbus A380 with Thales IFE. Air France has not, however, elected to offer in-flight connectivity on its aircraft as yet.

Air France-KLM vice-president and general manager, USA Christine Ourmieres recently told me that the group's technology experts are studying what kind of solutions are available but have not made a decision.

Here's a key par from Thales on what Air France does offer on the A380: