GOL launches aviation’s first individual onboard entertainment platform

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (BMF&BOVESPA: GOLL4 and NYSE: GOL),(S&P/Fitch: BB-/BB-,Moody’s: B1), the largest low-cost and low-fare airline in Latin America, announces the implementation, as of first of September 2011, of a pioneering onboard entertainment solution, the first of its kind in global aviation.

Using a package of technological tools, the company will offer its clients high-quality content from Brazil’s major communication groups. Passengers can access the platform through their own communications devices.

“Innovation is part of GOL’s DNA and we resorted to our usual creativity to develop an onboard entertainment option that will offer top-quality content at a low implementation cost,” declared Claudia Pagnano, GOL’s Vice-President of Market and New Businesses. “At first, access will take place via iPhone, iPad and touch iPod, as well as netbooks and notebooks with a WI-FI connection. In the future, the solution will also be available for other tablets and smartphones”.

The new onboard entertainment tool, baptized “GOL NO AR” (GOL on Air), will present a wide array of choices for the most varied tastes, including news items, magazine and newspaper articles, TV shows, sports, games and music channels. It will be an on-flight entertainment platform, automatically updated on landing at nine airports: São Paulo/Congonhas, São Paulo/Guarulhos, Rio de Janeiro/Santos Dumont, Rio de Janeiro/Tom Jobim-Galeão, Belo Horizonte/Confins, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Brasília, Belém and Fortaleza.

According to GOL’s Head of Innovation and New Businesses, Ubiratan da Motta, the initial months will provide the Company with vital input regarding client behavior, helping ensure the ongoing improvement of the service.

“We innovated on three fronts by creating a unique technological solution that is a first for the industry, as well as marking a major step forward in client relations,” explained Motta.

GOL’s team dedicated 14 months to developing the portal, which use will be free of charge. The installation of the necessary equipment in the fleet will be gradual and the system is already in place on 35 aircraft. At first, the company will offer the product on approximately 250 daily flights, primarily on the Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo shuttle, Brazil’s busiest route. The idea is to expand the service to around 380 daily flights by the end of the year.

“Installation is rapid and there is no need to interrupt normal operations as is common in the sector,” added Pagnano. “As a result, in addition to improving our clients’ travelling experience, the new solution will not interfere with flight performance as it does not increase aircraft weight nor, consequently, fuel consumption”.

The “GOL NO AR” portal represents a new addition to the series of innovations recently launched by the company in Brazil, such as the Buy on Board service, which will be expanded to more than 400 daily flights by the end of 2011, and the operation of 737 Next Generation aircraft equipped with the futuristic Boeing Sky Interior. Since it began operations, GOL has established several important milestones in Brazil’s commercial aviation sector: it was the first company to focus on internet sales and eliminate the traditional paper ticket, thereby reducing costs and streamlining clients' travelling experience, and the first to offer mobile-phone check-in and domestic flight check-in via iPhone.