MI Airline Introduces On-Board Portable Wi-Fi: AirFi

• Airlines without on-board WiFi capabilities have a new, low cost and flexible alternative to offer their passengers a ‘connected’ experience with chat, games and ancillary sales.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands | March 21, 2014– MI Airline is proud to announce the AirFi Box and AirFi Platform. AirFi is a compact, portable, battery-powered and self-scaling WiFi network, not in any way connected to the aircraft. The AirFi Box is designed to be integrated into existing airline logistics and is suitable for creating an alternative Inflight Entertainment for all flights.

The AirFi Platform provides passengers with a large range of options when they connect their own tablets or smartphones to the network: they can order tax-free or catering products during the entire flight, play (multiplayer) games with other passengers, on-board chat, read destination information, enrol in airline loyalty programs or report faulty seats.

Nicolas Peeters (VP Engineering at MI Airline) says: “Additionally, the AirFi Platform is directly integrated with MI Airline’s crew empowerment tablet solution, ‘Connected Crew’. This enables airlines with a complete ancillary sales infrastructure, creating true passenger centric operations. Airlines can also develop their own applications for passengers and cabin crew on the AirFi Platform, creating the exact brand and customer experience they envision.”

In short: AirFi is classified as a T-PED (Transmitting Personal Electronic Device), offers lightweight multiplayer games, product catalogs, inflight ordering, (miles) payment capabilities using ‘Connected Crew’, digital magazines and newspapers, surveys, (group) chat, high value targeted advertising, destination information and basic flight information. AirFi is scalable and flexible without any modification to the aircraft.