The previous 18 months has seen in-flight leisure (IFE) conferences give attention to the alternatives and significance of in-flight web connectivity and wi-fi IFE. There is no query that its potential may change the face of in-flight leisure and the general passenger expertise however there’s one other growth which appears to be like set to have its say on the business’s future.
Android-based IFE techniques, the newest in in-flight leisure {hardware} expertise, will give passengers entry to apps through their seat-back display screen. For passengers aware of downloading and utilizing apps on their cell units, particularly people who use an Android working system, the training curve for this expertise will likely be light. In consequence, the arrival of Android-based IFE techniques looks like a pure match.
Thales, one of many firms pioneering this expertise, says the system will begin with a small pool of apps which were examined and confirmed to be helpful for in-flight techniques. Whereas there could also be alternatives to offer entry to a bigger portion of the app market sooner or later, the agency is eager to make sure efficiency and compatibility is as excessive as doable – which implies apps that require a digicam, GPS or Bluetooth are more likely to keep off the record.
For IFE content material service suppliers, there will likely be a chance to accomplice with app builders to carry their content material to the Android platform, whereas they may have a chance to create their very own apps for airways.
In the meantime, for airways, there are ideas that the system may assist create contemporary income alternatives by way of branded apps or by internet hosting retail accomplice purposes. Extra is more likely to be revealed when Thales and different {hardware} firms talk about Android IFE techniques on the APEX present in Lengthy Seashore, California this September.
One other of the massive taking factors will likely be whether or not the arrival of Android techniques will battle with or assist web connectivity by way of a passenger’s personal machine. One idea is that passengers will likely be given the chance to take pleasure in content material from their units by way of the bigger, arguably better-positioned seat again screens.
One other doable situation may see passengers synchronising their very own units to the Android techniques to entry a extra personalised in-flight leisure expertise. For individuals who journey repeatedly, this might open up appreciable alternatives for a extra useful and informative flying expertise.
In response to Thales, there might even be alternatives for airways to offer passengers with previews of the in-flight leisure previous to boarding through an app for his or her cell machine. It may give them the chance to create playlists of in-flight content material that may very well be loved throughout the flight.
The outlook for passengers, airways and in-flight leisure suppliers is undoubtedly very thrilling. Each Android IFE techniques and in-flight Wi-Fi look set to play a significant function in shaping the way forward for the airline business, enhancing the passenger expertise and opening up new alternatives for people who present it.