Airbus’ Connected Cabin of the Future: Digital Native Aircraft
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APEX Insight: The Airbus A350 XWB, what Ingo Wuggetzer, vice-president of Cabin Marketing, Airbus, called “the only digital native aircraft” during his keynote presentation at APEX EXPO 2016, is 100 percent equipped with in-flight connectivity and was uniquely designed to integrate systems.
As the race to connectivity accelerates, industry experts project that over 20,000 aircraft cabins will be connected by 2025. During his keynote address, Ingo Wuggetzer, vice-president of Cabin Marketing, Airbus, shared the prospective improvements to the passenger experience and cabin crew benefits afforded by a fully connected cabin. The Airbus A350 XWB, what Wuggetzer calls “the only digital native aircraft,” is 100 percent equipped with in-flight connectivity and was uniquely designed to integrate systems, while making the most effective use of space and weight to provide a seamless door-to-door connected experience.
Smoother communications between connectivity nodes in the aircraft mean passengers could potentially control their own environment – lighting, window shades, seat movement and climate – directly through their smartphones and personal devices, with crew tapping the technology to optimize cabin systems, operational efficiency and personalized service. According to Wuggetzer, “In 2025, we will see a different environment, very integrated, merged into a seamless connected aircraft, like on the ground, which is easy to say but hard to deliver.”
“In 2025, we will see a different environment, merged into a seamless connected aircraft.” – Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus
As for the impact of connectivity on cabin crew, “This might be even more dramatic in terms of technology,” said Wuggetzer. Crew will be able to interact with the passenger in unprecedented ways thanks to the prevalence of smart devices that will provide airlines with data on preferences ahead of time, allowing them to prepare services and smart advertisements that can create value for the passenger and increase revenue for the airline.
Airbus will be holding customer experience workshops during APEX EXPO to assist airlines with the implementation of its Airspace concept cabin product, which, Wuggetzer says, was designed to offer a “love at first sight” welcome to passengers as they board. “It’s not about solutions, but about customer needs,” he added.
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