Inflight’s Kimberley Young provides a summary of the latest happenings across the IFEC and cabin technology sector.
The Inflight team have been busy this week in Hamburg for the Passenger Experience Week, exploring newly launched innovations and products and catching up on all the latest trends in IFEC and cabin technology.
The week kicked off with the Passenger Experience Conference, with a morning session pooling insights from airline executives on how they are offering value for customers while managing costs and improving revenues.
Introducing Jóhanna á Bergi, CEO of Atlantic Airways, Dr Joe Leader, CEO of Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), said the airline is “a great example that no matter the size of your airline, no matter the scope of your mission, the little details matter tremendously.”
And across the three co-located exhibitions making up Passenger Experience Week we saw the companies and suppliers producing and supporting those little (and large) details that add up to offer a seamless journey, delivering efficiencies and opportunities for airlines in an increasingly competitive environment.
Particularly important to note was that the spotlight shone again on accessibility solutions with United Airlines taking home the Crystal Cabin Award in the ‘In-flight entertainment and connectivity’ category for its ‘Entertainment for All’ offering.
“Accessible and relevant in-flight entertainment plays a major role in customers enjoying their flight experience and we wanted to create a system that all United customers could enjoy, including customers who have varying vision, hearing or mobility requirements,” said Toby Enqvist, senior vice-president of customers at United. “Together with Panasonic, we spent three years building a system that is truly inclusive, and we look forward to adding it to more aircraft soon.”
Across the show we have seen great concepts and visions for the future of cabin technology and IFEC from new approaches to the ever-popular moving map in-flight feature, to satellite coverage and new lighting solutions. But I hope we will continue to see more airlines recognising the importance of providing the same level of experience for all – so everyone can access and enjoy the travel experience.
Don’t forget to take a look at our website for our coverage of the reveals and announcements from the week and we’ll be reviewing the event in our next issue of Inflight magazine.
Image: United Airlines won a Crystal Cabin Award in the ‘In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity’ category for its ‘Entertainment for All’ offering.
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