Ancillary Revenue Solutions For The Cabin

In-flight map

According to research, onboard inflight duty-free sales have fallen by 11%. Inflight maps are popular with passengers and can provide an original and engaging platform that can influence travelers’ destination spending.

FlightPath3D leverages ancillary revenue by providing passengers with an immersive onboard 3D map experience with the functionality to let airlines sell and advertise products.

Travelers often do not have fixed plans for what they want to do at their destination, and are looking for inspiration.

FlightPath3D vice president for marketing, Jon Norris says: “Today it is not about passengers’ paying for connectivity, it is about the passengers’ destination spend wallet. Access to this market increases dramatically once you have connectivity.”

Destination shopping, experiences, and services are a segment of passenger spending that is on the rise. Typical destination services can be excursions, restaurants, hotels, and transportation.

The airline can embed as many destination services as it wants within the map’s architecture. When the passenger is engaged in the map experience it will highlight partnered services that are available in any geographical location.

“Many airlines offer travel packages as part of their service. British Airways and American Airlines frequently advertise travel bundles that include hotels and hire cars. It is possible to integrate any permutations of these offers into the map,” says Norris. “It is possible to add any product that can be linked by geolocation to the map.”

Therefore, if a passenger is using the map to browse around the London area, they will be informed of numerous attractions within the city. Furthermore, the map will enable the traveler to book and pay for the experience they choose.

“If I am looking at Big Red Bus tours around San Francisco, then I just click on the secure link to the Big Red Bus booking engine for information on tours, availability, and pricing,” says Norris.

Flightpath3D uses data in the public domain, so it can suggest relevant destination services based on what the passenger is viewing during the flight. “If you have been browsing the San Francisco area, the map will use this data to recommend destination services for the passengers,” says Norris.

FlightPath3D map can add context to the customer retail experience. By knowing where the customer is flying to or from, and analyzing what the passengers are looking at on the map, it is possible to serve ideas and the airline’s routes and services to the passenger.

“Instead of just randomly suggesting destinations, when they are of little relevance, FlightPath3D takes a personalized approach,” says Norris. “The passenger can browse the seatback screen for a long time. This enables the airline to gather data and make the best informed proposals to that traveler.”

By analyzing billions of traveler reviews, photos, and other social interactions, Flightmap3D can inform passengers which destinations and activities are trending. It is possible to identify more than 400,000 attractions worldwide and see how they rank by popularity.

Routes

Most inflight magazines feature a map that shows airline routes and destinations. These can be very static and do not include much detail. FlightPath3D map will highlight destinations, as well as information about the flight and make it possible to examine the flight schedules.

If the aircraft is connected, it is possible for passengers to book a future flight while onboard.

“If a traveler is on a flight from JFK to LAX, and viewing points of interest in San Francisco on the moving map, it will offer suggestions, such as the flight schedule, routes, and costs. The map will suggest other attractions in San Francisco. It can be tailored as little or as much as the airline chooses,” says Norris.

Passengers want their IFE experience to be immersive; they do not want to stop what they are watching to view something else. It is possible that a portion of the seatback screen may be allocated to showing the map.

If passengers are watching a film, the map can highlight information about where a particular movie scene was filmed and give background information. Alternatively, a ticker tape banner at the top or bottom of the display can highlight information such as the flight time to a destination and the aircraft altitude.

Many carriers have surficial adverts in between the map display screens or add placements on different parts of the map. These will be displayed while passengers cycle between screens or browse the map.

FlightPath3D produces an onboard map solution that can interface with the IFE seatback system and passengers’ portable electronic devices (PED).

This article was originally published in Aircraft Commerce and can be viewed here.