Case Study: Emirates Adopt Windows 8 on HP Tablets for Flight Application

The Dubai-based Emirates airline announced today the deployment of a new Windows 8- and tablet-based application called Knowledge Driven Inflight Service (KIS). This Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application has been in use since 2004 and was running on Windows 7, but its deployment on Windows 8-based tablet PCs is a first in the airline industry. Kevin Griffiths, senior vice president, Cabin Crew at Emirates noted;

“At Emirates, we strive to deliver the world’s best in-flight experience. We constantly invest in the best aircraft, products and service. To support our crew, we have created an application on Windows 8 that delivers a unique, personalized experience with the necessary information for our cabin crew to better serve the needs of customers. The Windows 8 platform running on HP ElitePad 900 devices gave us this option, allowing us to create the KIS app that enables our crew to offer an experience not available on other airlines.”

Members of the flight crew use the application to brief the cabin crew prior to flights to satisfy customer needs in the most appropriate way. It is also interfaced to booking systems and can be used to upgrade Emirates Skywards members to business class or first class, in addition to collecting customer feedback that is immediately routed to headquarters upon landing. The hardware platform is the HP ElitePad 900, Emirates – a new KIS tablet that is light, attractive and has a long battery life, ideal for nonstop flights. The device was announced by HP in October and created for business users, offering Windows 8 optimization and a beautiful lightweight design. Microsoft adds;

When deployment across its fleet is complete, Emirates will have 1,000 HP ElitePad 900 tablets running the KIS application on Windows 8. More information on the KIS application running on Windows 8 is available at the Microsoft Showcase.

Emirates is not a top airline in terms of numbers of flights or visibility, but their adoption of Windows 8 is an important showcase for Microsoft to demonstrate the enterprise potential of Windows 8.]]>