Air New Zealand Selects Panasonic Avionics Corporation's eXLite IFEC Solution for its B777-200 Refit

Air New Zealand will be the first customer for Panasonic Avionics Corporation's (Panasonic) lowest power and lightest weight in-flight entertainment and communications (IFEC) system ever - eXLite.

Air New Zealand CEO, Rob Fyfe says, "Following a thorough review of all solutions available in the market for our 777-200s, we challenged Panasonic to come up with a lighter, more cost effective version of our current system. Paul Margis and team developed an innovative solution that took the weight out of the system to help reduce drag and ultimately fuel costs. With eXLite, Air New Zealand will continue to offer state-of-the art entertainment to our passengers without compromising space, energy and experience. We're thrilled to be the first customer of Panasonic's eXLite product."

"We are very excited to partner with Air New Zealand to launch our new eXLite solution," said Paul Margis, Chief Executive Officer for Panasonic Avionics Corporation. "eXLite is a lighter, easier to install IFEC solution with an compromising passenger experience from a vendor with global support and a long term stake in this industry. We are proud to have worked so closely with Air New Zealand to align their business needs to our new eXLite solution."

eXLite, is designed to deliver the highest quality experience for passengers, and is Panasonic's lowest power and lightest weight IFEC solution ever. It leverages Panasonic's Eco series monitors, which enable an elegant industrial design, seamless interior integration, capacitive touch, proximity sensors, incredible viewing angles, and next-generation processors. It also has a streamlined architecture that reduces weight and cost. Depending on the configuration, the system can weigh as little as 3.2 pounds per passenger seat. Like all Panasonic X Series solutions, eXLite features a flexible architecture that lets airlines customize the passenger experience by cabin class.