Spanish Holiday Airline evelop! is upping its inflight entertainment options. The carrier now gives travelers in its Turista Plus premium cabin complimentary access to virtual reality headsets from Inflight VR. The kit is available to all Turisat Plus travelers on the carrier’s A350s flying between Spain and Cancun (CUN), Punta Cana (PUJ), and Havana (HAV).
When passengers fly with us, we want them to feel that they are on holidays. Inflight VR’s Entertainment solution will help to make our passengers’ flights to destinations around the world a unique experience, taking them to places they have never been before. This solution aligns perfectly with our strategy which continuously introduces innovative and cost-effective improvements to our passengers’ experience.
– Bruno Claeys, General Manager of evelop! Airlines
Passengers can explore the airline’s destinations, relax through guided meditation, climb Mount Everest, swim with whales in the Pacific Ocean or watch movies on the Inflight VR headsets. Like many similar VR deployments this is a trial program for evelop! If the program is well received the carrier could expand to other aircraft, routes or potentially as a paid option for economy class passengers.
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Raphael Baumann, CCO of Inflight VR, highlights his company’s low risk, turnkey approach that helps it score airline customers. “Not only will evelop! offer its passengers the most immersive experience available on the market, they will do so with no upfront investment and very limited impact on their operational cost… Our thorough approach addresses all technical, logistic, usability and rights management aspects to make this a seamless way to amaze their passengers and build a closer relationship with evelop!’s brand.”
Read More: Virtual reality entertainment gets more funding, more inflight trials
While that may be good news for the airlines it does present some financial challenges for the supplier. The company recently announced a 2.5 million euro funding round to help deliver these trials and secure long-term deals. And the Inflight VR does expect that cash will last some time. The company controls its costs in part by using third party hardware rather than developing (and manufacturing) its own. Chief Marketing Officer Matthias Walther notes that some trial markets are at a break even state already, with paid take rates exceeding estimates, though that will vary by region.
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