APEX Expo 2018: Driving Airline Outcomes in Boston

APEX Expo, held annually in the fall, provides the opportunity for airlines, OEMs, and suppliers to share their vision for the future of airline passenger experience. Everyone brings something different to the table: experimental cabin technologies, new ways to streamline operational costs, and novel approaches to drive new business opportunities.

A few days prior to the show, we were honored to guest speak at 35,000 feet about the future of Biometrics. Lufthansa hosted its FlyingLab APEX EXPO pre-conference on a flight from Munich to Boston aboard an Airbus A350. The airline showcased new concepts and invited technology experts to speak about innovation.

At APEX, held in Boston, we welcomed colleagues from over 100 airlines to our brand-new booth, which included a new approach to showcasing our demos, and a preview of our innovation studio concept, the first opening later this year in Silicon Valley.

Here are three key takeaways from the show:

1. Enhancing the Passenger Experience

Modern passengers value experiences more than ever, and savvy airlines are using technology to differentiate their offering.

Personalization (before, during, and after the flight) provides new opportunities to build lasting relationships between airlines and their passengers.

At this year’s APEX Awards, Singapore Airlines won an award for Best Personalization Innovation for its myKrisWorld IFEC solution, developed in partnership with Panasonic. The solution works with the airline’s mobile app to power personalized recommendations inflight, enable multi-screen functionality, and distribute exclusive content based on passengers’ frequent-flyer tiers.

To further enhance the passenger experience, we announced three exciting partnerships: Two from gaming, Toca Boca and Gameloft, who provide market-leading offerings across multiple gaming categories and a partnership with Raleigh and Drake, the world’s first influencer-driven discovery platform.

2. Improving Operational Efficiency

A connected crew and cabin can exponentially increase the efficiency of airline operations. When paired with analytics and passenger profiles provided by our cloud infrastructre, a connected cabin can also help predict and satisfy passengers’ needs and wants—which in turn drives ancillary revenue generation.
We also took this show as an opportunity to shed more light on our new strategic partnership with Inmarsat, which will give our airline customers more connectivity options than ever before.

At APEX we welcomed colleagues from over 100 airlines to our brand-new booth, which included a new approach to showcasing our demos, and a preview of our innovation studio concept, the first opening later this year in Silicon Valley.

3. Driving New Business Opportunities

The number of travelers continues to increase dramatically, opening up new markets in Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Europe. At APEX, we announced IFEC partnerships with EgyptAir and Uzbekistan Airways, providing passengers with a personalized, home theatre experience, in conjunction with a range of applications including inflight retail features.

The rapid pace of digital transformation happening right now in the airline industry is feeding new and existing markets, creating new opportunities for growth.

At this year’s Expo, we launched our newest solution, Wellness, to the market. Wellness is comprised of active noise control, premium seat lighting, and a proprietary technology that suppresses odors and contaminants in the air. This solution set has been developed to improve the comfort, health, and well-being of passengers inflight, and gives airlines the ability to differentiate with a novel offering that appeals to the growing health-minded passenger.

Another feature of the suite is Wellness personalization, thanks to new partnerships with Mimi Hearing Technologies and Detalytics. This is just a taste of what connected IFEC and mobile solutions can do to drive business and improve the passenger experience. Through partnerships like these, we’ve learned that giving passengers the ability to control more of their air travel experience is fundamental to the growth and wellness of the airline industry itself.

As you can see in the video below, we had a great time sharing and learning with our industry colleagues at APEX Expo 2018.

See you next year!

Check out our video recap of APEX 2018!