Starting in 2018, Spanish airline Air Europa will offer its passengers a wireless IFE service so they can watch content on their own smartphones and tablets. The airline is working with a collaboration of Lufthansa Systems, Lufthansa Technik and Epteca, who are developing a system based on the digital BoardConnect 5.0 platform.
The latest ‘cloud container technology’ enables the use of services such as Epteca’s travel platform for ancillary revenues, which can present information and context-specific offers tailored to passengers. In addition to offering booking options for tourist attractions and tickets at the destination, the platform also includes shopping and advertising opportunities.
According to the parties, the system is simple, quick, cost-efficient and secure to install, as will be demonstrated when it is rolled out across the Air Europa’s fleet of 15 Boeing 737s and 11 Embraer 195s starting in early 2018.
“Product differentiation and personalized services are becoming increasingly important when it comes to offering passengers a unique onboard experience. The open architecture of the digital BoardConnect platform and seamless integration with Epteca personalized ancillary offerings makes it exactly the right choice for us,” said Alexis Capdevila; IFEC manager at Air Europa. “BoardConnect Portable, combined with the Power & Safe solution, also offers us an IFE solution that is completely flexible yet also simple and secure to use.”
The Power & Safe solution Capdevila refers to has been developed by Lufthansa Technik in cooperation with Lufthansa Systems so that the BoardConnect Portable Mobile Streaming Unit (MSU) will be stowed in a safe inside the overhead storage compartment to prevent unauthorized access and provide protection for valuable IFE content – from Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows, to music. Placing an additional power supply inside the baggage compartment eliminates the need for battery replacement.