Welcome to the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks the evolution of the airline passenger experience and aviation’s sustainability initiatives.
We’re pleased to share our interview with Kevin Clark, the CEO of Dunfermline, Scotland-based Bluebox, which has brought engaging inflight experiences to passengers for 21 years.
Bluebox is perhaps best known for its proprietary, low-cost streaming solution, Bluebox Wow. Carried on board aircraft, Bluebox Wow uses either battery- or aircraft-power to provide wireless IFE to passengers and support airlines’ e-commerce programs.
The firm also has an intriguing relationship with Airbus that sees the airframer deliver the software portion of Bluebox’s solution, dubbed Blueview, as either a linefit or retrofit solution under the Airbus Airspace Link OSP program.
“We have today three customers flying on that,” revealed Clark to RGN at the APEX TECH conference in Los Angeles. “We’re about to announce a fourth a bit later on this year. We’re the first to market flying with it. And we’re the most deployed…”
Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar, for instance, is taking new Airbus A321neos with Airbus’ chosen Airspace Link OSP wireless IFE hardware, and Bluebox’s Blueview software interfaces with it. Meanwhile, the carrier is bringing an aircraft-powered version of the Bluebox Wow box to its existing A320/A321ceos to ensure a consistent experience for passengers.
As such, Jetstar passengers on the Airbus narrowbodies (either neo or ceo) “have exactly the same experience. It’s the same software system,” noted Clark. “It has the same capabilities. You can move between aircraft and it’s the same experience, and that’s proven to be a very powerful sales proposition.” Passengers can stream entertainment and other content via the browser-based portal to their own personal devices and access the onboard retail menu.
Interestingly, even as airlines roll out lower latency, high-speed inflight connectivity solutions, Bluebox still sees a huge addressable market for its solutions.
“So that market is still very relevant for us. However, we’re looking ahead and saying, ‘yeah, but the connected market is very relevant for what we do as well.’ So we’re looking at the capabilities that we deliver currently in the cabin and how might those be delivered differently perhaps or with extended capabilities in a connected cabin,” said Clark.
Please enjoy our full interview with Clark below.
