From Bono to Beethoven, sky's the limit

Emirates' in-flight entertainment system offers everything from movies, music and audiobooks to email and phone calls.

Air travel - everyone's doing more of it and the carrier you choose to ferry you around the world will depend more on ticket prices, air mile programmes and the length of stopovers than how good the in-flight entertainment system is.

But let's face it, some of the flights out of Auckland launch people on the first leg of trips that will involve 20 hours of flying time or more.

If you're going to be stuck for the duration in the mind-and-butt-numbing confines of economy "cattle class", knowing you'll have access to a decent audiovisual set-up may be a deal-clincher when comparing ticket prices.

A return trip from Auckland to Hamburg on Emirates this month gave me the chance to test-drive the ICE entertainment system now available to all passengers on the airline's A340-500 planes that do the Auckland-Melbourne-Dubai leg of the trip.

ICE stands for information, communication and entertainment. Most passengers will be concerned mainly with the latter, but the entire award-winning system is a good indication of how far in-flight communication has come.

From the 10-inch touch screen embedded in the back of the seat in front, you get access to a couple of dozen movies, which can be started and stopped when you choose.

I was able to watch Derailed, The Oyster Farmer and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire back to back, all displayed in perfect quality. No more waiting for the flight crew to start the scratchy videotapes.

You also have TV shows such as The Family Guy to choose from and music documentaries and live concerts. There are channels of Arabic, Indian and Japanese programming.

If none of that interests you or you can't stand watching movies and TV on a plane, the audio options are impressive.

ICE features an extensive list of the "essential" albums of all time. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and U2's The Joshua Tree make the list. There's also a listing of all the British number 1 singles back to the late 60s - 6000 songs in all. It's like being lent an iPod for the journey. A list of recent albums is a good representation of what's new.

There are also the full symphonies of Beethoven in the classical section, operas and if you can't be bothered choosing for yourself, a wide range of radio stations. The audiobook collection is a little thin, but the idea is sound.

A video game section offers 40 Tetris-like games that aren't graphically groundbreaking but offer a lighthearted diversion.

The hours tend to roll by a bit quicker with all that at your fingertips. But it's a shame Emirates hasn't invested in decent earphones to do its fantastic entertainment system justice. The current earphones distort easily and don't do a great job canceling the noise of the engines.

If you feel the urge to communicate with the outside world, as I did, 39,000 feet over the pitch-black Indian Ocean, you can do so easily.

The communication part of ICE allows for emails and SMS messages to be sent and phone calls to be made from your seat. The communications use a satellite link carried on the plane and therefore are not cheap. An email will cost US$1 to send and the same to receive. A phone call from the air will cost US$5 a minute.

If you don't like the idea of swiping your credit card through a satphone, you can buy Emtel prepaid calling cards on the plane instead.

There's the option to call seat-to-seat, which is useful if you're travelling as part of a big group, as the Melbourne school kids sitting around me with the phones perpetually pressed to their ears were.

The email component will mask the email address so it appears to the receiver that the message is coming from your personal email account. When you receive a reply, a message pops up on your TV screen to tell you there is mail in your inbox. It's all very neat and easy to use, but emails are limited to the length of a mobile phone text message.

The satellite system is also used to update BBC news headlines, which are displayed on overhead screens around the plane. No longer do you step on to a plane and remain incommunicado for the duration.

The information part of the package is of less interest, giving you access to Emirate air mile info and Dubai hotel addresses. But it does offer access to two cameras mounted on the plane which give great views forward and below as the flight progresses.

ICE is the best in-flight entertainment system I've seen, beating my previous favourite, which is offered on Singapore Airlines. As airlines try to stay competitive they are all moving to these systems - Air New Zealand is installing them on new and refurbished planes. 

 
Emirates' Ice System

* Herald Rating: 8/10
* Price: Depends on destination (US$1 to send and receive email, US$5 a minute satphone)