AirFi has been busy, with three awards in the back pocket at the Passenger Experiance Week in Hambug.
The AirFi suite of solutions won The Crystal Cabin Award for IFEC and Digital Services, the Onboard Hospitality (OBH) Award for Best Onboard Technology, and the PAX Tech Readership Award for Best Technology.
Ivo Zaal (AirFi COO, left) and Job Heimerikx (AirFi CEO) celebrate receiving the Crystal Cabin Award, presented by Verena Bintaro (AERQ Head of Marketing & Public Relations)
The Crystal Cabin Award for IFEC and Digital Services was awarded by an international jury of in-flight experts for AirFi LEO, created in partnership with Iridium and SKYTRAC.
The solution consists of an antenna smaller than a pen, which is placed inside a window frame to enable a connection to the Iridium Certus low-Earth orbit system. The data link allows for access to aircraft ACARS transmissions, validation of credit card payments and the use of WhatsApp and iMessage by passengers.
In Quotes
“Everyone knows the Crystal Cabin Awards are the Oscars of the aviation industry,” AirFi CEO Job Heimerikx noted in accepting the award during a gala dinner that took place at the Hamburg Chambers of Commerce on June 6th. “To receive this award is a true validation of all our hard work to bring an affordable, minimally invasive in-flight connectivity solution to the commercial aviation industry.”
Heimerikx added,
“Currently, more than a dozen airlines are testing LEO and many of them will make their adoption official very soon. We can’t wait to see what airlines and passengers think of the benefits delivered by AirFi LEO as it takes to the skies in the very near future.”
The Onboard Hosptialy Award for Best Onboard Technology was presented to easyJet Onboard, the portable inflight entertainment and retail platform powered by AirFi at an awards ceremony in the Taste of Travel Theatre at the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) on 6th June. We have covered this at Economy Class and Beyond with the user experience in our trip reports.
The introduction of easyJet Onboard saw the rollout of AirFi’s portable streaming solution across 327 aircraft in just six months and gives passengers access to games, journey-specific content and airline information, plus the ability to browse inflight retail offerings using their personal electronic devices.
The company picked up the PAX Tech Readership Award for Technology for AirFi LEO during a joint awards celebration in collaboration with the Travel Plus Awards at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Hamburg on 6th June.
We will be spending time with AirFi this week to see what they plan to offer next – suffice to say it is a very interesting time for the company.
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