When Emirates Brought Video to Every Seat: A Look Back
An old Emirates promo showcasing the first airline to put video screens in every class. A look back at what was revolutionary - and how far IFE has come.
A vintage Emirates promo video popped up in my YouTube suggestions this week and it was a great reminder of how radical seatback entertainment in every class was at the time. Emirates was the first to do so in 1992. Here's a look back at what that meant and how far we've come.
An old Emirates promotional video showed up in my YouTube suggestions this week, and I really got a kick out of it. The video showcased Emirates as the first airline to offer video entertainment in every class of service on their aircraft: economy, business, and first. What looks completely standard today was actually a genuine competitive advantage when Emirates rolled it out (and still required tapes!)
Watching the video now, it's a great reminder of just how far in-flight entertainment has come.
What Was Revolutionary Then
When Emirates introduced their ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) system with individual video screens for every passenger, it was a big deal. This was an era when most airlines offered a single overhead projector screen showing a shared movie that everyone in economy had to watch simultaneously (or watch nothing at all.) Business class and first class sometimes had personal screens, but the idea that an economy passenger might have their own screen was quite novel.
The Emirates video captures the pitch well: individual screens, extensive content libraries, and the ability to control your own entertainment experience regardless of where you sat. Seatback screens are now a baseline expectation for a long-haul flights but back then, it was a differentiator that helped establish Emirates as one of the world's premier carriers.
The IFE Evolution
Watching this now shows just how far the industry has come:
- Screens have gotten bigger and clearer - from small CRT-style displays to modern high-resolution flat panels, with premium airlines now deploying 4K OLED technology
- Content libraries have exploded - from a handful of movies and TV episodes (on tape!) to hundreds of options across genres, languages, and formats
- Streaming-to-device disrupted the landscape - for a while, airlines (cough, cough - AA) shifted away from seatback screens toward passenger-owned devices, arguing it was cheaper and more flexible
- Now the pendulum is swinging back - as we covered when AA announced fleetwide seatback screens, the industry is realizing that passengers actually prefer dedicated screens
- The next frontier is Wi-Fi and connectivity - Starlink is rapidly becoming the standard, and has changed what "entertainment" even means on a modern flight
Emirates was ahead of the curve then. What's interesting is that they're still investing in their onboard entertainment product today - their ICE system remains one of the more highly-regarded IFE offerings in commercial aviation.
Why This Matters
Aviation history often gets lost in the day-to-day news cycle. Seeing a promotional video that was groundbreaking 20+ years ago shows how something we consider completely standard quickly evolves.
It's also a reminder that airlines that invest in genuine passenger experience improvements tend to build lasting brand equity. Emirates isn't the world's premier long-haul carrier today just because of their route network. They built the brand through consistent product investment, and their IFE milestone was a piece of that story.
The AA seatback screen return announcement that we recently covered is essentially AA trying to catch up to what Emirates and other leading carriers figured out decades ago.
Bottom Line
If you have a few minutes, the old Emirates video is worth a watch. It really goes to show you just how far the passenger experience has come over the last 30+ years.
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