Bluebox Aviation Systems and dnata catering Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop and market offerings based on the deployment of Bluebox wireless inflight entertainment (IFE) solutions across Australia, New Zealand and a number of other Pacific Ocean territories.
The companies will support each other in product customisation and processes for delivering joint solutions to customers in the region.
“COVID-19 has changed the landscape for in-flight catering and logistics, and by partnering with Bluebox we’ll be able to help our customers mitigate some of the restrictions required in this new touch-free world,” said Duncan Greeney, general manager Retail, dnata catering.
“This means allowing airlines to minimise contact and dialogue between passengers and cabin crew but still delivering an excellent service and a full range of food, drinks and retail goods that are such an essential part of the ancillary revenue income for many airlines.”
David Brown, business development director, Bluebox, said: “IFE as we knew it was already evolving to deliver so much more than inflight entertainment, but COVID-19 expedited our delivery of touch-free payments for onboard retail and the digitisation of materials that support ancillary revenue generation, such as digital menus and magazines which provide significant advertising revenue for airlines.”
“Now, though, we have the expertise in the passenger interface, content integration, secure payments and the wireless technology to deliver it all; by partnering with dnata catering we can expand the platform further into the on-board logistics systems, integrating the catering and retail elements they provide. So we’re really delivering an inflight engagement platform for enhancing the passenger experience on board – still ‘IFE’, but well beyond entertainment.”
