Emirates has received two major honors at the 2026 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) awards. The airline’s inflight entertainment system, ice, was named Best Global Entertainment following a selection process involving more than one million verified passenger votes from over 600 airlines worldwide. Ice offers passengers access to over 6,500 channels of content, including movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, and audiobooks in 40 languages. The platform collaborates with providers such as HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Food Network, CBeebies, Discovery+, BBC, Bloomberg Originals, Shahid, BBC Earth, Animal Planet, HGTV, Nickelodeon and Spotify to deliver current content. It also features five live TV channels covering sports and news along with flight updates and external camera views.
The airline is currently equipping its new Airbus A350 fleet with Thales’ AVANT Up inflight entertainment system. Emirates has invested more than $350 million in this upgrade for its 50 new aircraft. The updated system includes Optiq 4k QLED HDR displays that can host three times more content than previous systems. Passengers will also benefit from improved live television options and enhanced connectivity.
For the sixth year in a row since its introduction in 2021, Emirates has received the APEX WORLD CLASS award. This recognition covers various aspects of the airline’s service including safety measures, sustainability initiatives, guest experience quality across food and beverage offerings as well as hospitality standards. The award is based on audits by industry professionals conducted during actual flights.