Aircraft iPod connectors hit turbulence

Apple appears to have jumped the gun with its KLM and Air France announcements

KLM and Air France have denied a statement by Apple claiming that the two airlines will offer iPod integration in their aircrafts.  

Hugo Baas, a spokesman for KLM, told vnunet.com that the airline has had only "exploratory conversations" with Apple, and denied that the two companies had reached any agreement.

Air France sent out a press release on Tuesday directly contradicting the Apple release.

"Air France [denies] the announcement that a specific connection system to the digital iPod will shortly be installed on Air France planes. Apple is a partner of Air France, but it is far too early to talk about a project such as this," the company stated.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayer told vnunet.com that the KLM and Air France mishap was the result of a "miscommunication". 

"But we are excited about announcing iPod integration with in-flight entertainment systems on Continental, Delta, Emirates and United today, and other airlines in the future," he said. 

Apple said on Tuesday that a group of six airlines will offer iPod integration to allow passengers to recharge their portable media players and play video content on seat-back displays.

The facility will not be widely available on all aircraft, however. United will limit iPod connectors to first class and business class seats on international flights.

Delta will offer the service to all passengers on flights within the US that take more than four hours, a spokeswoman told vnunet.com. 

She added that Delta may expand the offering to business class on international flights in the future.

Continental expects the connectors to be available for all passengers on its transatlantic routes by the end of 2007.

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