THE F UTUR E O F I FEC
A STANDARD FOR AND BY THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY:
Airlines, travel companies, distribution
systems and other technology players
contribute to the New Distribution
Capability (NDC) standard. Through a
collaborative approach, participants
ensure that supporting schemes are
functional and can be used regardless
of business focus, location, size, target
markets and commercial policies…
According to IATA the NDC
standard is structured around seven
distribution-related functions and is
an opportunity to address the end-toend
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airline distribution process, such
as shopping and booking.
Earning before monetising
Software-based systems naturally facilitate door-to-door experiences. Because openly
standardised metadata integration points enhance relevance and visibility, Andy Rosen,
as chair the APEX Advertising Delivery Working Group, focused the initial deliverables
on schema specifications that help the APEX community engage with the well-known
internet ratings verification providers. These unified ad impression reporting principles,
harmonised with the work of Ad-ID, the IAB Tech Lab and the ATSC, are functional and
practical. The deeper motivations for this work reflect the emerging consensus that wellconnected
aircraft are a complementary component of an expanded IFEC mission.
“Our job is to enable meaningful interactions between the airline and the consumer,”
says Rosen. “The naturally low-distraction cabin environment is our starting point. We
have a mandate to deepen the relationship by connecting everything we know about
the traveller and the trip to responsibly offer an experience that is compellingly helpful,
attractive and relevant.”
“We are on the cusp of a digital
transformation with the NDC and
ONE Order. These programmes,
based on modern standards, will
liberate the industry from a century
of accumulated legacies and deliver
a much-needed modernisation
of distribution and back office
processes. They will usher in
a world of airline retailing that
will drive value for the customer,
airlines and the entire air travel value
chain,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s
CEO, told travelandtourworld.com
in June 2019.
back IFE rights for their
own exhibition. But today,
content providers like
Disney – whose Disney+
D2C service is scheduled to
launch in the USA on November 12,
2019 –and WarnerMedia are expected to
pull D2C rights back in-house. At
Disney, IFE rights are now being
managed out of the D2C department.
Passengers wanting to access their Netflix
or other OTT subscriptions on the ground have needed
access to inflight connectivity with sufficient bandwidth
to stream such content satisfactorily – a commodity that
has been in limited supply. But with some of the major
studios moving very seriously into the D2C space, those
options are increased, including the ability to cache D2C
content on the aircraft if that suited their needs, and
potentially using it to promote their service and further
differentiate it from Netflix.
But increasing bandwidth on connectivity systems
will enable access to OTT accounts on the ground to
play an increasing role in content consumption onboard
the aircraft.
As airlines focus on the passengers’ entire trip from
door-to-door rather than just gate-to-gate, some other
components of IFE will also move off the aircraft
seamlessly. While most major studios define IFE as being
within the fuselage of the aircraft, with
on-the-ground exhibition being a different
rights set, accessing airline websites prior
to boarding to create playlists for use
onboard will surely increase. PEDs also
give passengers the ability to carry IFE
offers made onboard into the airport
and beyond.
Over time, studios may begin to pull
back airline lounge exhibition rights from
the non-theatrical specialists who hold
them today in order to book content for
the aircraft and lounge simultaneously.
MIGRATION TO A
SOFTWARE FOCUS
Much of the above ideas involve software
more than hardware, and the future
of IFEC will see not only systems, but
entire companies making the transition
from being hardware-focused to
becoming software-focused. Likewise,
the era of having separate systems for
IFE and connectivity, with challenges
in integrating the two, is passing
into ephemera.
55% Average ‘completion
rate’ of top 20 movies
63% is the rate on
North American
routes
“A staggering 90% of the world’s data
was created in the last two years”
Duncan Jackson, president of FlightPath3D
LEFT: PANASONIC’S
NEW ARC INFLIGHT
MAP PLATFORM
IS A 3D INFLIGHT
MAP APPLICATION
AND SERVICE FOR
ITS ‘NEXT’ AND
‘X SERIES’ IFEC
SYSTEMS
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