easyJet is the latest airline to shift its on-board retail experience to a digital solution. The carrier selected the AirFi platform as the hardware backbone to power its new inflight shopping platform.
We selected AirFi to work with us having been impressed by their overall capabilities and the flexibility of their systems and platforms. We are confident they are the right partners to support us in realising our ambitions to deliver an industry-leading, digital onboard experience for our customers across Europe.
– Simon Cox, easyJet Director of Inflight Retail
The new service officially launched this week on the Swiss-registered easyJet fleet of 27 A320 aircraft. The AirFi box, allows passengers to connect to and browse the onboard shop menu while in flight. Beyond snacks, drinks, and duty-free shopping, passengers also have access to flight and safety information, destination content, inflight magazine content and a selection of games, all free of charge.
AirFi manages the passenger-facing aspects of the user experience onboard. AirFi’s open software platform integrates seamlessly with easyJet’s mobile crew technology, onboard payment solution, and catering backend. Ultimately the companies expect that consumer behavior data via the portal can be captured and used to optimize offerings and functionality.
Commenting on the partnership, Job Heimerikx, CEO of AirFi said, “easyJet is and has always been a trailblazer in the air transport industry and we at AirFi are proud to have been selected by such a discerning partner. The team at easyJet has challenged us to bring forward best-in-class solutions, innovative business models and to explore a fully customized solution that will further enhance the inflight experience for its customers. This opportunity has helped us to grow in many ways and we look forward to a very fruitful partnership.”
The solution also offers potential to grow the integration touch points. The companies could eventually support pre-order of catering options, for example. This would further optimize operations and reduce waste as easyJet ensures passengers have the snacks they want during a trip.
The AirFi platform could also support streaming movies or short-form video content on board in the future. For now, however, the carrier has chosen to not pursue that option.
The full easyJet fleet tops 300 A320-family aircraft, presenting a large potential for AirFi to expand the deployment, should the initial performance prove successful.
More news from World Aviation Festival 2022
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- easyJet snags AirFi for digital inflight transformation
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- Can inflight Wi-Fi ever be profitable?
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- AirFi LEO aims to alter the inflight retail landscape
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