V-Flyer

On my recent Emirates AKL-MEL flight I was bemused to see that not only was there a skymap (a bit old hat now?) but also 2 cameras offering live views of the journey.......
One was pointing downwards (towards the undercarriage) so not too much to see on my night-time flight, but the forward-pointing camera (seemingly in or just under the nose of the plane) displayed a stunning light show of a thunderstorm in the clouds below our flight path virtually all the way from Auckland to Melbourne.
Do other airlines have this feature?
It was an Airbus A340-500 , if memory serves me right....

Many planes have cameras, often used by the flight crew when on the ground, and some enable them for passengers, EK included. All A340s have one in the tail for example. The A380 with EK has one at the front, one on the tail top and one underneath, all viewable through the IFE.

If this was combined with United's Channel 9 radio (to listen in on ATC commas) it would be fab. Hope VS do this with future aircraft.

If I recall the Emirates 777 I flew back to the UK from Jakarta had them fitted as well.

I've not seen them on any other airline.

I often listened to Channel 9 when I flew UA, it would be good to combine both as SLinky mentioned.

Nearly all of Emirates fleet have the cameras.

I have flown on one of their 777-300's and that had it. Best flight I have ever been on, and that was in economy!

Airtours A330 had it on their touchscreen IFE 'Hot!' back in 2000. Saw it recently on a Finnair A320 on the overhead screens during taxi, takeoff and landing.

Lots of carriers do have them. EY, EK, UL to name three. Generally they are found on airbus aircraft rather than Boeing planes although of course the 777s defie this rule!

I would imagine it operates as a bit of an upgrade or additional extra whn buying the aircraft. Certainly the 346s in the VS fleet do have cameras for the flight deck to use however VS have chosen not to get it hooked into V:Port. Btw do the 343s have them?I was under the impression that they are only on the 346s and the few 345s flying.

looking at the air france website their A380-800's have these cameras on them as well.

Hate those cameras in the nose!! - I remember landing at birmingham once with a very strong crosswind - the aircraft was pointing at 10 oclock in relation to the runway - very very offputting!

You should be able to choose your camera!
Cameras & Map can be the most popular part of IFE.

My wishlist for the new aircraft/refit:
External camera views - Tail looking forward to nose; Nose angled down to see runway during landing; Vertical down with at least 2 zoom levels
Moving map display linked to Google Earth at all zoom levels (selectable).
Basic six flight instruments.
Flight instruments + Forward view.

All with ATC audio channels.

And all available gate to gate!

Bill S wrote:
And all available gate to gate!

We can but wish Bill, somehow I doubt we will gate to gate anytime soon on VS.