Two themes dominate the start of the IFEC market at Aircraft Interiors Expo Hamburg, taking place since yesterday till tomorrow.
Ash cloud and APEX. Mean anything to you?
The ash cloud was clearly casting a pall over the first day of the show. That was the first topic of conversation, meeting and greeting business colleagues and visitors alike. How did you get here? Was your flight delayed? being the typical openers. I heard first hand the ordeals that many people underwent to get here. It’s a tribute to the stamina and invention of our industry I reckon, which relies on the individual to support the collective effort. Still, as a journalist, it was a little frustrating, because the journey experience was often a distraction from extracting real news.
And talking of the passenger experience, how apt that WAEA should change its name to APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) at this very pivotal moment in ash cloud misery. That was the second topic that started up when anyone started a conversation here yesterday.
It has got people foxed. I don’t know whether that was the intention, but people look blank when they try to figure out the hidden significance of the name. It’s worth pointing out that the majority of WAEA members voted the name in, but from what I hear, it wasn’t their idea in the first place. In other words, the lobby for a name change was not a grass roots campaign. So what you might ask? Well, if it wasn’t a grass roots cause then what is its future, or rather what impact will it create?
The hope from its electorate is that it will do the trick to seal the future of the former WAEA to embrace a wider context. However, this wider ground is already claimed by this show the Expo, which embraces cabin interiors, catering and other amenities and installation. Or perhaps APEX is hoping to widen its membership from these sectors – this is not clear.
What I have picked up through the grapevine, is that the name reflects a decision to drop the word ‘entertainment’ from the association title/brand. I find this rather sad. Discarding a key word that summed up the very genesis and driver behind the IFE industry in the first place.
If anyone is in any doubt, the E in IFEC as in Gethin’s IFEC Review, stands for ‘entertainment’, and long may it remain so. I have no problem with the word ‘entertainment’ as in inflight entertainment, and I may be wrong but I doubt if any airline entertainment manager, system vendor, service provider, or other company in our great space, has a problem with it either.
Maybe we should use the word more, to give it rightful precedence! and don’t forget that it is a great differentiator in an industry that is becoming increasingly amorphous.
In terms of hard news, there are some contracts being announced both on the entertainment and connectivity front. OnAir announced Libyan Airlines, and Lumexis announced FlyDubai, a low cost carrier contract.
Elsewhere, activity continues with ingredient companies such as Astronics, EMS, and enhancements to Rockwell Collins IFE products. Later we will hear the outcome of the Crystal Cabin Awards, although Panasonic has already announced an award for its integrated smart monitor.
Thales is also offering a fully integrated seat solution. This marks the start of renewed collaboration between IFEC vendors and seat vendors. Sicma announced such a product at last year’s show which was ordered for Royal Jordanian. So possibly the integrated IFE seat product, could attract new airline customers.
On the handheld IFE front, there is a good showing from the main vendors. The BlueBox stand with its new ipad device is currently mobbed out, and over at digECor, the company is showing off its latest devices which are offered in China through its partnership with LeFeel.
Today, the second day of the show, it is starting to feel more like business as usual. Although everyone here is fretting about how/if they will get home ok, and wondering where the ash cloud will hit next. No-one at the show, it seems, is exempt from its caprices.
