THERE ARE TOO MANY PROVIDERS DOING THE SAME THING IN A MARKET THAT IS NOT LIMITLESS

Consolidation is coming to the industry. There are too many providers doing the same thing for a market that is not limitless.

In the wireless IFE space, for example, in order to survive, you need something special. We've got great technology, lots of customers, and both Retail inMotion and Lufthansa Technik behind us to support our customers. In the past, we've lowered our prices to compete. I think that was wrong. With our resources, we can offer something special to customers in terms of strong technology and solid support.

Connectivity

As for the connectivity providers, looking at the statements they all publish it does not appear there are any profits to show so far. So I also believe we will see a consolidation in that area too.

Connectivity is the future of

IFE, because onboard internet is the prerequisite for real-time communication, streaming live events and additional services from external partners. Connectivity remains our focal point and we are currently working with partners Inmarsat and Lufthansa Technik to install broadband internet on the short- and medium-haul fleets of Lufthansa, Eurowings and Austrian Airlines.

Award winning

The BoardConnect suite: Portable, Classic and Plus won Best Use of Onboard Technology in this year's Onboard Hospitality Awards. The latest version

5.0 has a new user interface and open platform architecture which enables airlines to run their own applications and those of external partners through it.

Passengers simply connect to the onboard wifi to access all of the connected services via a standardised user interface that can reflect the corporate design of each airline. Airlines have numerous options for integrating new offers and generating additional revenues because the suite is designed for fast and easy technical integration.

New customers for BoardConnect Portable include Virgin Australia, which is installing the boxes on its smaller regional aircraft. The airline was one of our first customers for BoardConnect in 2013, and is now upgrading its Classic systems with Gogo connectivity. We are also retrofitting 50 of Indonesian airline Citilink’s A320s with BoardConnect, with connectivity by Inmarsat’s GX Aviation.

Change is coming. Jan-Peter Gaense, Lufthansa Systems, predicts tech consolidations and the need for supportive partnerships