Editor’s Comment: Enriching Experiences

By August 30, 2018 May 19th, 2020 General News

Inflight’s Kimberley Young provides a summary of the latest happenings across the IFEC and cabin technology industry.

Many of you will hold fond memories of childhood days spent racing markers around a board game, practising your strategy skills in Battleship, and debating spellings in Scrabble. So, you’ll be pleased to hear that Global Eagle Entertainment has signed new in-flight games licensing agreements with branded entertainment company Hasbro, and the Japanese brand Sanrio.

The new agreement with Hasbro will extend further the relationship that began in 2004. It will feature the production of new board games including Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Boggle and Scrabble, as well as the classics Guess Who? and Battleship.

Plans are also underway to develop new in-flight games, which will be debuted on aircraft throughout 2019 and 2020.

Under Global Eagle’s agreement with Sanrio, it will create multiple games with five Sanrio brands: Hello Kitty, Hello Sanrio, Gudetama, Aggretsuko and Sanrio Characters.

Per Norén, Global Eagle executive VP and chief commercial officer commented: “We have a long history of working closely with game-makers to ensure the final product translates to the seatback arena in look, feel and enjoyment.”

Also enriching the onboard experience, IdeaNova has launched Inplay Live, allowing airlines to provide live TV content to passengers.

The product is designed to fit seamlessly into existing IFE systems and to support a wide variety of client devices. The airline can choose from multiple deployment, content quality and protection options to ensure their needs are met efficiently and reliably.

Janne Pelkonen, CTO of IdeaNova Technologies, Inc commented: “With the growth of connected aircrafts and access to less expensive bandwidth, we can finally satisfy the passengers’ need to be informed about the latest news in current events, sports and business.”

Meanwhile LATAM Airlines Group is investing in its cabin experience with a plan to revamp  cabins across two-thirds of its fleet in a US$400 million investment.

The company will renovate the interior of more than 200 aircraft over the next two years with passengers able to fly the first renovated aircraft before the end of 2018.

“As part of LATAM’s long-term vision, the transformation of our cabins will enable us to offer an industry-leading onboard experience with more options, flexibility, and personalisation to better serve each and every passenger,” said Claudia Sender, vice-president clients, LATAM Airlines Group.

LATAM spent three years on the design of is new cabins, consulting passengers and experts, carrying out seat trials and ergonomic tests as well as 360 evaluations involving customers, cabin crew, and LATAM team members.

Sender commented: “The onboard experience is one of the most important differentiators in choosing an airline and the most relevant factor in customer satisfaction, so it was essential that our passengers were involved in the development process.”

Whether providing a new game or making live TV accessible in-flight, the industry is continuing to invest in the onboard experience with products to engage, delight and stand out from the crowd.

Many of these topics will be under the spotlight in our upcoming Infocus Content supplement, published alongside the September/October 2018 issue of Inflight. Subscribe via the link below to ensure you receive a complimentary digital edition!


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