PANASONIC LOOKS TO NEXT GEN

The new ceo of Panasonic, Dave Bartlett, said the company "was on a mission to invent the next generation of inflight experience". Updating the order book, he reported 553 IFE linefits, 200 IFC linefits, 9000 aircraft with Panasonic IFE and 2000 with IFC. Recent new deals include 50 Turkish Airlines widebodies to be fitted with IFC, and six Egyptair B787s. He introduced Panasonic’s Solutions: Next XT hardware and software platforms, Next Online, and Next Cloud, which he claims to be the first global data analytics centre for the Internet of Things infrastructure. These enable Panasonic to offer Next Loyalty, a personalised digital platform currently used by Singapore Airlines for their MyKrisworld companion app, and Next Marketplace, a retail platform.