"Mezzo says that another three undisclosed airlines are also offering the service, in pre-rollout form."

May 2, 2007 – LUFTHANSA has ordered a quantity of e.Digital eVU handheld IFE players for use on its transatlantic all-business-class services and on its Airbus A300-600 long-haul flights. Californian-based e.Digital will also supply and integrate content.

Beginning this summer, Lufthansa will offer eVUs to passengers on the 48-seat Airbus A319LRs and 44-seat Boeing BBJs that it operates between New York Newark and Munich, and between Newark and Chicago O'Hare and Dusseldorf. eVU will also be supplied in business class on the A300-600s.

Content will comprise a selection of Hollywood films, audio channels and a variety of games, obtainable via a graphical user interface in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian or Arabic. eVU comes in two versions – with 7in or 8in screen – and with a hard disc ranging in capacity from 40Gb to 200Gb.

The Lufthansa order is part of a $2.5 million package of new contracts that e.Digital announced at the end of March. It also includes an order from Alitalia (Inflight Online, April 4) for 120 units for use by premium-class passengers.

The Alitalia deal is the first to have been announced by e.Digital outside the terms of its agreement with UK-based Mezzo, which includes eVU in the turnkey IFE service that it supplies to British low-cost carriers Jet2 and Flyglobespan and transatlantic premium-only operator Silverjet. Mezzo says that another three undisclosed airlines are also offering the service, in pre-rollout form.