Thales, Air India sign 10-year IFE maintenance deal

MUMBAI: Thales on Monday said it has signed a 10-year agreement with Air India to provide maintenance services for inflight entertainment (IFE) systems across 57 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

The 'FlytCARE' agreement covers turn-key support including line maintenance, spares, repairs and logistics management for Thales’ AVANT Up IFE systems. These systems will be installed on existing Boeing 777 and 787-8 aircraft as retrofits, and on new 787-9 and Airbus A350 aircraft as linefit over the next two years.

Maintenance and repair services under the FlytCARE programme will be delivered from Thales facilities located at Delhi and Mumbai airports, said the company.

The contract includes support for 12 new widebody aircraft equipped with the AVANT Up system, which features 4K HDR touchscreens, USB-C and USB-A charging, and dual Bluetooth connectivity. Air India is the first carrier in the Asia Pacific region to operate the AVANT Up solution.

“Our partnership with Thales under the FlytCARE programme strengthens Air India’s engineering ecosystem with faster turnaround, deeper technical support, and enhanced component availability,” said Jeremy Yew, Senior Vice President – Engineering & Maintenance, Air India.

“Thales is grateful to Air India for their trust in awarding us a 10-year FlytCARE service contract for IFE equipment, which plays a key role in ensuring an exceptional passenger experience. We are honored to strengthen our long-standing partnership with Air India as they transform their inflight entertainment experience,” said Thomas Got, Vice President, Aviation Global Services, Thales.
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