What does Aviasoft do?
Denis Cheremissin: We have a company that helps airlines and their catering partners increase ancillary revenue streams and get them from different channels, not only onboard sales. We started our journey in 2019 with a simple yet effective product – an onboard sales suite for catering and airlines.
Our product has an unprecedented success rate for cashless onboard transactions without the internet. The service level agreement for success rates is 99.7% while the industry level of fraudulent transactions floats between 7-10%, in some regions it can rise to 30% of transactions.
We use cutting-edge technology and have an extra level of security with our banking partners. As always, the information is a tool. By having multiple sources of data, we support banks in making decisions and getting money – even from those who intentionally used a card with insufficient funds.
We provide an opportunity for passengers to pay using their smart devices and wearables such as Apple Watch, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay – even without internet connectivity.
Using AI, we can give accurate predictions relating to loading perishable items to meet demand. With almost no surplus, nearly nothing is wasted. On their last flight segment of the day, cabin crew can discount remaining perishables, helping the airline move towards its sustainability goals.
Most noticeable for me is the level of cabin crew engagement. I take pride in how SkyDepot helps get the crew engaged with the smart calculation of incentives based on average spend per head parameter individual performance of each crew member and tiers of performance. We got to the point when cabin crew suggest to ancillary managers what products are best selling, they argue if sudden changes are made to the menu because it directly affects their work. And this combination of joint efforts shows great results in sales.
Also, a fun fact is that cabin crew can accept goods in seven minutes. We found this great device that supports crew in all ground tasks, a built-in laser scanner for registering seals and reporting faulty carts and keeping track of how equipment moves around the network. It was fascinating to make secret shopper flights and see that the cabin crew served the 180 passengers on an A320 in just 32 minutes, with every third passenger making a purchase. That is why one of our customer airlines reported a 342% year-on-year increase in three years working with SkyDepot.
After a couple of years, we identified the need for an extra dimension to connect with passengers, to understand who they are and how we can give an airline a two-way communication channel with its passengers. That’s why we made our IFEC solution.
Do you make hardware?
We make software, not hardware. We collaborate with trusted hardware providers whose expertise includes gaining certification and installing items onto aircraft. We focus on making the IFE solution affordable and profitable for the airlines, enjoyable for passengers and hassle-free for the cabin crew.
In most cases, we do not ask the airlines to change their hardware. We can make their existing IFE hardware bring ancillary revenue, entertain passengers and work much more efficiently.
Our focus is customer-centric. We create a journey for passengers, starting long before they board the plane. Passengers interact with the IFE on the ground and inflight, online and offline.
What differentiates what you offer?
While sitting at a gate, awaiting boarding, you can explore the inflight entertainment system, the content and even start watching. It’s possible to pre-order snacks and walk to the seat while watching.
We really want to make a change in the way portable IFE solutions are perceived by airlines. There are various ways of commercialising IFE and bringing ancillary streams, including selling empty seats in-flight with different tariffs applied. The revenue from such sales can be divided and sent directly to the airline’s bank account. Meanwhile, sales of goods, if they are provided by the catering partner, will be sent to the catering account before they are shared between the partners.
The IFE is inviting to other players, such as hotels, tour agencies and operators, e-Sim providers and event and concert organisers. They place services in the IFE and passengers can pre-book and even pay for the tours while still travelling. It enhances the customer experience and brings sales revenue.
How do you work with advertisers?
Our IFE’s advertising portal, SkyStream, streamlines how airlines work with advertisers. We understand how difficult it can be for airlines to operate a long list of advertisers, each having special conditions and ad placements.
Skystream brings transparency and efficiency to managing advertisements. Each advertising account can set target values, tweak parameters, upload and change creatives. They can see in real life how their ads are performing, then monitor and adjust every aspect and get invoiced – all in one place.
They can even set specific flights or times when their ads must be visible to passengers. The airline has full control over what goes live and can prohibit campaigns, suggest changes and much more.
After approval, the invoice will be sent to the advertiser. The platform can collect money and after everything is settled, all advertisements are automatically sent to the IFE servers. Within just a few hours the whole fleet will get the campaign.
Importantly, no airline managers or engineering teams are involved, every aspect is fully automated. SkyStream manages the ads within the IFE and makes off-line hard placements, including seatback placards with QR codes and instructions on how to connect to the IFE.
A well-designed placard can drive an 18-22% increase in the number of connected passengers. Advertisers love to see how their target audience comes to the IFE, with in-depth statistics, and to get performance insights. We can provide advertisers with impressions and how long passengers have been interacting with their ads.
We had a case with baby diaper sampling, and then the mums would go to the IFE and fill out our surveys. Car producers placed 360-degree views of their new vehicles. A construction company came up with a creative landing page with virtual tours in a newly built house. The collected leads were of high quality.
Which hardware supplier do you work with for your IFE solution?
When making our IFE we partnered with Inflight Dublin. Their hardware was perfect for accommodating our software. The servers have a built-in 3G-4G model.
We have the same 3G-4G model in our POS terminals, which provides an extra level of connectivity, besides the onboard Wi-Fi, when an aircraft is on the ground. During a short on-the-ground window by connecting IFE and POS we can deliver different kinds of data, such as inventory stock, available seats, media content and ads more effectively.
In terms of customer experience, what does Aviasoft offer?
Almas Rakhimov: Aviasoft is a one-stop shop for our customers. We do everything from inflight retail to providing an entertainment system, curating IFE content collections and attracting advertisers for an added revenue stream. The airline only interacts with one person.
Even the content is delivered without engineers. It’s all done over the air: all the metadata, all the updates. We’re even able to deliver news every day to the IFE system.
Recently, we started using an AI agent. AI now can sort news and moderate content to make it ‘safe’ to publish in the IFE portal, with modifications when required. AI reads news and translates it into different languages. We cross-check and cross-reference metadata, making sure there are no errors.
There is no need for airline staff to get involved in any aspect of managing the IFE. It’s all done remotely while the aircraft is on the ground between flights. Even the maintenance teams are not involved. There is no need to connect to the internet or send requests to the engineering teams and no need for SD cards or SSDs.
When passengers are onboard, the cabin crew presses one button. They don’t even have to turn it off because our built-in ‘flight director’ knows when the aircraft is back at home base and transmits all data and downloads updates to get ready for the next flight.
The built-in system senses what’s happening with the aircraft, including speed and altitude. It uses accelerometers, barometers and cellular towers to understand some parameters. It senses when to turn on the entertainment, when to turn on the 4G modem and start downloading and uploading.
