PLAY Airlines is to run a trial of Bluebox Aviation Systems’ passenger-facing onboard retail solution. It will deploy the Blueview onboard retail service via a Bluebox Wow portable streaming system in its battery-operated format for the trial. The solution aims to provide the airline with a platform to add new channels of revenue generation in support of its low-cost carrier strategy and at the same time enhance passengers’ inflight experience.
“At PLAY we are committed to providing safe effortless travel and great value to our passengers, but in line with our ethos – and our name – we also want to provide passengers a happy and pleasant journey, and so chose Bluebox to help introduce the potential to ‘play’ through a digital services platform,” said Birgir Jónsson, CEO, PLAY. “Though we’re trialling retail initially, Blueview’s impressive flexibility as a broader digital platform would give us plenty of scope to expand the portfolio of digital services we offer onboard in future. Bluebox’s credibility in this sector and their willingness to deploy a solution that will evolve with us demonstrate they are the right partner to have on our side in this exciting and very challenging environment in which we’re growing PLAY.”
For the trial, Bluebox will integrate Blueview with MOST’s retailing and payment platforms to present PLAY’s retail offering wirelessly to passengers on their own devices, enabling touch-free ordering of food & beverages. Upon successful completion of the retail trial, a full deployment would add additional services to the Blueview platform, including paid access to inflight entertainment.
“Our Blueview solution – with its capacity to increase retail sales onboard and the flexibility of adding additional ancillary revenue generating services including paid access to IFE content – epitomises the value of a digital passenger experience to airlines, especially low-cost carriers such as PLAY,” said Kevin Clark, CEO, Bluebox. “We’re working closely with PLAY’s team to trial onboard retail to start, and following a successful trial, we will introduce new elements in future phases – from retail initially to retail plus other digital services; and from a battery-powered deployment on Bluebox Wow to an aircraft-powered solution. This kind of flexibility – both as partners and in the technology options we can offer – is crucial for airlines seeking new channels of revenue and additional value for their customers in the digital world in which we operate.”
