Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect Portable and mCabin Put Flight Management First
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APEX Insight: Lufthansa Systems’ wireless in-flight entertainment solution, BoardConnect Portable, keeps its passenger-facing charms, but adds big changes behind the scenes for airlines and flight crew.
Last September at APEX EXPO in Portland, Lufthansa Systems launched a lighter, more compact version of its classic BoardConnect wireless in-flight entertainment (wIFE) system, BoardConnect Portable. The product, pictured below, combines the previously separate server and access points into one mobile streaming unit (MSU) that weighs the equivalent of four cans of soda.
Currently flying on the Italian-based, Lufthansa-owned Air Dolomiti, BoardConnect Portable is advertised as a wIFE solution for low-cost carriers operating short- and medium-haul flights. Each MSU can stream in-flight entertainment to up to 50 passengers. On a narrow-body, two or three MSUs would serve an entire aircraft.
And since the unit doesn’t require complex cabling, it can be quickly installed and removed from a leased aircraft, for example. On the front end, passengers are able to enjoy the same award-winning app-based in-flight entertainment of BoardConnect but with faster content loading and higher efficiency for flight crew.
“At the moment, BoardConnect is operated by a crew panel that’s available in the galley. With the devices they can do something on the move. It’s a further step towards mobility in the cabin,” Ingleson explains, adding that flight crew would no longer need to run up and down the aircraft aisle just to make a minor adjustment to the in-flight entertainment system.
Providing flight crew with simple controls and access is also echoed in Lufthansa Systems’ mCabin app to manage flight crew, but also, to help flight crew manage passengers. mCabin is designed to provide all the details that pertain to a flight: from briefing announcements to passenger profiles that identify whether Seat 23A is a frequent flyer or someone with a special meal requirement.
“This is really valuable information when you’re wanting to address your passengers in a personal way,” says Ingleson. “We’re offering the crew a really valuable tool to be able to speak to their passengers as individuals and not just as one of the mass.”
The app, designed to be sold off-the-shelf or a customizable solution, was recently adapted for Windows 10. “Windows 10 is key for this because there’s a huge variety of devices that the airline could choose from,” says Ingleson. “The flexibility that we’re bringing to airlines is really expansive; it’s not only modular in the fact that they can pick and choose which modules they need. We’re also bringing flexibility on the device side.”
BoardConnect Portable is a Crystal Cabin Award finalist. Asked what it would mean if Lufthansa Systems wins the award for their IFE solution, director, Product Management of BoardConnect, Eckart Wallis says, “It proves that we’re going the right way.”