German airline IT provider, Lufthansa Systems, has partnered with in-flight advertising specialists Inadvia to enable airlines to better monetise their in-flight entertainment (IFE) offerings.
The partnership will lead to increased advertising revenues for Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect customers by allowing them to monetise their IFE through the global digital programmatic marketplace.
Monetising entertainment and connectivity offerings “is always a crucial topic for our airline customers,” said Jan-Peter Gaense, head of passenger experience product and solutions at Lufthansa Systems.
He continued: “Our BoardConnect open aircraft IT platform has all of the necessary advertising standards built in already, and we believe the integration of the Inadvia capabilities on the platform represents the strongest possible approach in the market today.”
While programmatic and digital advertising have shown significant growth in recent years, there has been no infrastructure available for airlines to fully access these advertising budgets. The cooperation between the two companies changes that, by allowing airlines to effectively monetise IFE, while at the same time allowing them to remain in complete control of their environment.
Commenting on the partnership, Tim Lethern, Inadvia’s director said: “Beyond having a proven IFEC solution in BoardConnect, Lufthansa Systems have consistently shown us how forward-thinking they are in their adoption of some of the necessary standards the advertising and media industry require to invest, and that makes them a wonderful partner for Inadvia.”
By setting media-industry friendly standards and being able to work in both disconnected and connected environments, Inadvia has overcome the technical challenges involved in plugging IFE systems into the programmatic advertising ecosystem.
“Working with BoardConnect gives us an opportunity to display how programmatic advertising allows the highest possible sell-through rates, and an incredibly competitive revenue yield, while providing passengers with more relevant advertising than ever before,” Lethern concluded.
