In-flight iPads for under $10 on Australian low-cost airline

A couple of weeks ago we told you about a company, Bluebox Avionics, that was prepping iPads for use as inflight entertainment on airliners. Today we've heard that a low-cost airline down under, Jetstar, is launching a two-week trial at the end of this month, on flights longer than 90 minutes, to determine how iPads fare when trying to keep passengers entertained.

Available for AUD$10 (around US$8.40), passengers can rent an iPad for the duration of the flight. Each iPad is loaded with movies, TV programs, books, games, music, and music videos, so passengers are going to have an excellent choice of entertainment.

Bluebox created custom apps for the service, and partnered with content provider Stellar Inflight for the trial. Although the airline and providers have not disclosed the technical details, we imagine that the Jetstar iPads will be specially marked in order to keep flight attendants from grabbing iPads that are owned by passengers.

During the trial, Jetstar is equipping some domestic aircraft with 30 iPads to gauge passenger interest and demand. Data collected will be evaluated to see if the airline wants to roll this out fleet-wide later this year.

[via Engadget]
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