Dunfermline, UK | 04 April 2017 – Bluebox Aviation System’s portable inflight entertainment (IFE) solution – Bluebox Ai – has been selected by TCS World Travel, a leading private jet tour operator based in North America, to deliver entertainment and curated educational content on its luxury private jet journeys.

TCS is deploying Bluebox-configured iPads as the primary IFE system on the company’s three Boeing 757 aircraft, with the potential to use some devices on its seasonal charter operation as well. TCS’s Boeing 757s are customized for every journey, taking up to 80 guests on unique itineraries visiting the world’s most iconic destinations.

“We take our travellers on incredible journeys around the world, and offer them luxurious comfort, style and convenience,” said Shelley Cline, President, TCS World Travel. “Bluebox impressed us with an IFE solution that fits with that ethos – the very best delivery of convenience and high value. That’s what our travellers expect from us, and in Bluebox we’ve found an IFE solution partner that delivers the same.”

“We were exceptionally pleased to learn that it was our reputation for quality and innovation that helped get the conversation started with TCS,” said David Brown, Business Development Director, Bluebox Aviation Systems Ltd. “But we were even more pleased that Bluebox Ai proved the right fit for their needs, as what they were looking for is what we always strive to deliver to all of our customers – great technology that’s fit-for-purpose and simple to deploy.”

Airlines and travel companies around the world are looking for new ways to deliver outstanding services to passengers whose expectations are much greater in terms of technology and content. Bluebox’s use of commercial off-the-shelf devices delivers on these expectations and provides a more cost-effective IFE option than traditional fitted seatback systems.

Bluebox Ai will take its maiden voyage with TCS World Travel on the “Kingdoms and Cultures of Eurasia” expedition departing from Lisbon, Portugal on 20 April 2017. With Bluebox Ai, TCS will provide all 50 travellers with the latest iPad technology pre-loaded with films, TV programmes, destination maps and other curated educational content related to their 22-day itinerary. The expedition includes visits to Portugal, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Albania, Romania, and France.

London, England | February 3, 2015– European scheduled carrier and Star Alliance member TAP Portugal is the latest airline to adopt the iPad IFE application Bluebox Ai from portable platform specialist Bluebox Avionics.

The new deployment will see outmoded DVD players replaced by the Bluebox premium entertainment solution in the business class cabin on key mid-haul routes between Lisbon and Moscow, Helsinki and Accra.

“Bluebox won’t just replace the older DVD solution, but enhance it substantially”, notes, Rogerio Correia, Head Of Media and Content Management at TAP. “We’ll have our first run movies on there, naturally, but also offer premium television titles, a wide range of digital press titles in Portuguese and English, and plenty of great iPad games too.”

“It is a real pleasure to welcome TAP Portugal into the Bluebox users’ club”. Says John Howe, Joint MD at Bluebox Avionics. “They are a great airline, and this is a great way for us to kick off the new business year. We look forward to a long and rewarding relationship.”

London, United Kingdom | November 27, 2014– Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce today its provision of the Bluebox Ai application to Dragonair, the Hong Kong-based airline, for deployment with its new Airbus A320 wireless inflight entertainment streaming system.

Through Ai-enabled iPads the airline’s Business Class passengers, when connected to the in-cabin wireless IFE system, can enjoy both pre-loaded premium movies and access to cabin-streamed content.

“Out of the 25 airlines now employing Bluebox, Dragonair is the first customer to adopt our application specifically to integrate with in-cabin wireless IFE”, notes Bluebox spokesman Kevin Birchmore. “We like to take that as a vote of confidence in our recent work around hybrid IFE, from a highly respected and, quite rightly, a highly demanding new client.”

Bluebox Hybrid empowers airlines to offer Early Window Content (pre-DVD and retail-release movies) and access to streamed IFE in one integrated proposition. The secure app for iPad Air and iPad mini can interface with a Hollywood-approved wireless streaming solution to complete a premium IFE platform as content-rich as any fitted system. It is approved by major studios to host EWC and is the market leader in tablet IFE – now with over 14,000 units flying.

Bluebox Hybrid users enjoy the same superior audio, retina display screens and iOS games that the iPad delivers on the ground, and with closed-caption capability as standard.

London, UK | September 9, 2014– THAI Airways has extended its contract with Bluebox Avionics for their portable IFE application Bluebox Ai, it was announced today.

THAI was among the earliest adopters of the Ai app for Apple iPad, when launched by Bluebox in 2012. They now deploy over 500 units, principally as a service enhancement for premium cabin passengers.
“THAI’s vision and commitment to future-proof digital IFE has evidently paid off”, said Bluebox spokesman Kevin Birchmore yesterday, “and we’re delighted that they will continue to provide Ai enabled units onboard for this second contract term. We enjoy working with their team enormously and look forward to helping enhance the product even more in future.”

Speaking for THAI Airways, product planning manager Kanokkorn Areerak added: “Bluebox has helped us optimize our premium cabin service on key routes and we are pleased to renew the relationship in 2014. It is a flexible solution that works really well for us, and our customers certainly enjoy the quality of entertainment experience it delivers.”

Bluebox Avionics exhibits at APEX EXPO 2014 in Anaheim, California, Stand 1413.

London, UK | March 24, 2014– AviIT is delighted to announce that Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited has completed swift and smooth transition to an eMan managed service for the delivery of technical publications and manuals to engineering teams across its sites.
eMan is an AviIT product created to ease the library management challenges associated with the efficient control and distribution of publications and applications required for aircraft service and maintenance activities.

Keith Earnden, Engineering Director of Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited (MAEL) welcomes the move. “eMan has been successfully supporting MAEL for a number of years so it was a very simple decision when it came to looking at our future systems for library management. However, we were aware that AviIT now offers the solution on the basis of a managed service which has the attraction of placing the Service responsibility with the vendor.” The growth of MAEL’s own business had a role to play as Keith explains. “The eMan managed service proposition is even stronger in a multi-site environment so it made sense to implement a new architecture as we expanded into our new 110,000 sq. ft state-of-the-art maintenance facility at Birmingham Airport in the UK”.

David Brown, Chief Executive Officer of AviIT is delighted with this development. “It’s fantastic that we have been able to deepen our relationship with Monarch in his way. Monarch has always been very supportive of our eMan developments, which are designed to make the solution fit the current and future maintenance and repair demands. Our managed service proposition is not entirely new as it’s already been proven on an industrial scale supporting a number of airlines and MROs in Europe and North America on a managed service basis.”

London, UK | March 4, 2014–  Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce that Asia’s leading regional carrier, Bangkok Airways, has introduced its award winning Bluebox Ai portable IFE solution across select services. Utilizing the iPad mini platform, Bluebox Ai provides the airline’s Business class passengers with access to a wide range of movie content including the latest Hollywood releases. Bluebox Ai is also delivering catalogue of movies, TV programs, audio and interactive games in a service that is designed to differentiate the Bangkok Airways passenger experience.

Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, President of Bangkok Airways is delighted with the system and timing of its introduction. “We are excited to introduce this award winning portable IFE system to our passengers. Delivering an outstanding passenger experience is at the heart of our ethos and what better way to demonstrate this than our latest investment which will deliver a powerful and engaging IFE experience.”

David Brown, Joint Managing Director of Bluebox Avionics is equally enthusiastic. “Bangkok Airways has operated a portable IFE service for several years so has very clear expectations of the system both today and for the future. We are delighted that Bangkok Airways selected Bluebox to meet these needs and we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

Dubai, UAE | February 5, 2014– At the prestigious Inflight Awards ceremony in Dubai today Bluebox Avionics were delighted to secure the highly sought-after prize for ‘Best Handheld IFE System’, awarded to their content delivery solution for iPad, Bluebox Ai.

Bluebox spokesperson Kevin Birchmore, who collected the award at the Dubai World Trade Centre, said: “We are very proud of Bluebox Ai and it is fantastic that our industry recognises it as the class-leading handheld IFE platform we know it to be”.

The secure inflight entertainment application Bluebox Ai is optimized for iPad and its ultra-lightweight iterations iPad Air and iPad mini. Ai is approved to securely host early window content on these platforms by all six of the major Hollywood studios, enabling airline customers to offer new movies before retail release just as they would on an embedded system.

With over 10,000 units in service, Bluebox Ai also hosts the best new touchscreen and motion sensitive games, for an unrivalled gaming experience, and its eReader supports a wide range of digital newspapers, magazines, books and brochures, weightlessly.

Bluebox Ai provides the ideal solution for a range of deployment needs, including premium-seat service enhancement, service recovery in cases of in-seat screen failure and ancillary revenue generation through passenger rentals.

London, UK | November 22, 2013– Longstanding Bluebox Avionics customer British Airways and its French subsidiary OpenSkies have chosen to upgrade their iPad passenger entertainment offer on participating transatlantic flights.

Both airlines opted to enhance the IFE experience for passengers with a new purpose-designed Content Carousel user interface for their secure iPad solution Bluebox Ai.

Content Carousel delivers a more engaging and intuitive navigation experience for users, and greater flexibility for depth of content and filtering options. It also makes best use of iOS gestures functionality, recognizing that business travellers today are savvy tech users who expect smart and elegant solutions from any device they interact with.

BA deploys Bluebox iPads aboard A318 aircraft on its Club World London City service, offering all-seat business class flights between London and JFK. Similarly, OpenSkies, the premium airline connecting Paris to New York, provides each passenger with a Bluebox iPad for IFE.

“The new Content Carousel GUI provided an excellent opportunity for us to enhance the look and feel of the iPad deployment”, says Bluebox Project Manager Kevin Birchmore. “The upgrade went in with ease and we’re really pleased with how it looks.”

“We were really impressed with the look and feel of the new Bluebox GUI; it was an easy decision to move forward with the upgrade. Our passengers will now benefit from a more intuitive user interface, coupled with a tailored selection of programmes to fit our ‘Paris-Yorkers’ clients’ expectations as we’ve also just enhanced our entertainment offer”, adds Karin Drylie, Marketing & Product Manager at OpenSkies.

London, UK | September 16, 2013– In the world’s first film premiere to be held inflight, Disney’s long-awaited new animation feature Planes makes its official Australian debut in the unusual but highly appropriate venue of a serving commercial aircraft.

Australia’s leading international carrier has partnered with Disney to host the regional premiere, reported to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

For both airline and studio, maintaining the pristine digital quality of the entirely computer-generated movie (a successor to Disney-Pixar’s box-office smash series Cars) was critical, even within the confines of an aircraft cabin. The perfect platform to select was the Apple iPad and its advanced “Retina display” screen. For this they turned to the worldwide market leader in inflight entertainment solutions for iPad and iPad mini, Bluebox Avionics.

Bluebox provided an iPad for every seat of the Boeing 767, each loaded with the secure Bluebox Ai app that allows airline clients to offer their passengers the latest “Early Window” Hollywood movies on lightweight devices in the skies.

“Planes was a unique and very enjoyable challenge”, says Stuart McGeachin, Creative Director of DMD Phantom, who managed content presentation issues on the project. “DMD Phantom is a joint owner of Bluebox Avionics, and our contribution included ensuring the onscreen presentation did justice to such an artistically accomplished film.”

His team purpose created a bespoke co-branded “look & feel” for the unique Content Carousel user interface employed on Bluebox Ai. “The big difference being”, he notes, “that rather than presenting upwards of 70 or 80 movie, games and CD titles as we usually do, we were working with just the one!”

For Bluebox Joint MD John Howe “Project Planes” offered another kind of perfect platform: to demonstrate to airlines just how responsive and light-on-its-feet the commercial proposition can be. “From concept to completion”, he notes, “we were able to achieve delivery in just a few short weeks, providing the hardware and the secure Bluebox platform which Disney endorsed for use on this special pre-cinema release of the movie.”

London, UK | August 15, 2013– Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce that Air Astana, the flag carrier of Kazakhstan, has selected the Bluebox Ai in flight entertainment system for deployment across its expanding fleet. Air Astana has recently brought 850 Bluebox Ai units into service providing Air Astana passengers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, eMags and gaming content on the iPad.

Bruno Lefeuvre, In Flight Services Manager at Air Astana is delighted with the potential of the latest Bluebox Ai system. “We have been offering portable IFE systems for a number of years and when it came time to replace this, it provided a great opportunity to review the newest offerings in the market We were very impressed with the latest iPad-based solution from Bluebox Avionics. It’s a polished and engaging system that fits very well with the Air Astana brand and focus on customer experience. We have now rolled out the units and early feedback from our passengers and crew has been very encouraging.”

David Brown, joint Managing Director of Bluebox, is equally delighted to continue the relationship with Air Astana. “There’s always a degree of concern when an existing client goes to the market even though we know that we are fully committed to delivering an outstanding product wrapped with class leading services. We are delighted to have been selected to provide the latest Bluebox Ai system and for the opportunity to continue to work with Air Astana and its partners in the delivery of a fantastic IFE service to its passengers.”

London, UK | April 10, 2013– Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce that the Bluebox Ai iPad based in flight entertainment system is now approved by all of the major Hollywood studios for the delivery of early window content.

This unique position on the iPad platform was confirmed after successfully securing approval from Fox Studios following a review of the extremely robust Bluebox Ai hardware and software security systems.

“This is a very significant step for Bluebox”, enthuses David Brown, Joint Managing Director of Bluebox Avionics. “Bluebox Ai has approval for EWC from the studios of Sony, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner and Fox giving our airline customers and their partner content service providers an unrivalled breadth of content options on the iPad device. We understand the efforts and diligence that the studios put into considering applications for approval and we are very grateful for their support.”

London, UK | April 10, 2013– Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce that leading Scandinavian leisure airline, Primera Air, has selected the Bluebox Ai in flight entertainment system for deployment across its expanding fleet. With units entering service on seven aircraft in April, Bluebox Ai will provide Primera Air passengers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, eMags and gaming content on the iPad.

Thordur Bjarnason, VP of Commercial at Primera Air is delighted to be offering Bluebox Ai. “Primera Air is growing rapidly and we are committed to providing our passengers with a superior inflight entertainment experience. Bluebox Ai is a great fit for our particular needs given it supports a wide range of content and provides the flexibility to accommodate our many language options. We feel that having a platform that is based upon the Apple iPad tablet provides a higher perceived value to our passengers who are delighted.”

David Brown, joint Managing Director of Bluebox, welcomes the opportunity to work with Primera Air. “The passenger experience is very important to Primera Air and we are delighted that Bluebox Ai has been selected to meet this demand in the IFE category. The Primera Air team are very forward thinking and were very supportive during the development of the latest Bluebox user interface, which we are currently showing at AIX.”

London, UK | March 27, 2013– Bluebox Avionics announces that Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, has significantly expanded the scale of the recently deployed Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment system. El Al initially deployed the Bluebox Ai solution in September 2012 providing customers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content all delivered via secure iPad devices. This has proven so successful that the flag carrier ordered more units to meet demand, tripling the current implementation to 300 units.

Tal Kalderon, Inflight Entertainment Manager at El Al, is delighted with the impact of Bluebox. “Passengers have really taken to the Bluebox solution which has lived up to its promise of delivering a wide range of engaging content in a powerful package. It has also proven to be very easy for us to manage. We therefore decided to quickly increase the number of units we have deployed to make more widely available to our passengers.”

David Brown, Joint Managing Director of Bluebox recognises the value of customers expanding. “This decision to increase the number of Bluebox Ai units deployed so quickly after the initial roll out underlines the significant impact of the solution. El Al’s customers are delighted, the airline is clearly delighted and of course we are also delighted.“

London, UK | March 20, 2013– Bluebox Avionics is delighted to announce that Mexico’s flag carrier Aeromexico has implemented the Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment system to provide its customers with a superior inflight entertainment experience. The Bluebox solution made its first appearance for Aeromexico on the inaugural flight between Mexico and the UK in December ahead of the deployment of over 250 units across a number of Aeromexico’s long haul services over the last month. This is the first portable IFE service utilizing the fourth generation iPad.

Bluebox provide Aeromexico’s customers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content.

Fernando Rojas Hernandez, Service Planning Manager at Aeromexico is delighted that the capabilities of the Bluebox system position Aeromexico at the leading edge of portable IFE provision. “The iPad provides a superb platform for the delivery of inflight entertainment. The Bluebox Ai solution provides Aeromexico customers with a great blend of content, including early window Hollywood movies, in a package that is very easy for us to deploy and operate.” The rapid deployment is a bonus as Fernando notes, “it was been less than 6 weeks from deciding on Bluebox to bringing the system into service which is quite amazing. The joint efforts of the Bluebox and Aeromexico team really paid off as all understood the desire to launch Bluebox at the same time as our new Mexico to UK service.”

David Brown, joint Managing Director of Bluebox, welcomes the decision to deploy Bluebox Ai. “Aeromexico services are rapidly expanding and we are delighted to be able to provide a portable solution that delivers a very high quality IFE experience to Aeromexico customers. This is our first deployment in the region and we are absolutely convinced that it will continue to delight both the airline and its customers”.

Brown also reflects on the recent performance of Bluebox Avionics. “Aeromexico joins a growing group of airlines that have selected Bluebox Ai with over 7,000 units deployed in the last 15-months alone. It has been a period in which the Bluebox solution has developed to deliver an outstanding IFE experience with deployment capabilities that are enhanced by the optional protective case and 20 hour battery. There’s plenty more to come and we look forward to further announcements in coming months.”

London, UK | March 6, 2013– The new Bluebox Ai application for iPad mini delivers all the capability of our flagship product, but in a smaller, lighter package.

Bluebox Ai is already playing early window movies on airlines around the world. It hosts the best new touch screen and motion sensitive games, its reader holds a rack of newspapers, magazines, books and brochures (weightlessly) and it supports custom apps to help simplify cabin service and promote onboard sales.

Internet-ready for any connected aircraft, Bluebox can be a passenger’s window on the world outside the cabin, and Bluebox products provide a compelling ancillary revenue proposition too.

With customer deployments from as few as 30 units to well over 3,000, Bluebox Ai has already proven to be a superbly flexible solution for airlines large and small, and with Bluebox Ai for iPad mini the proposition has become even more versatile.
“It resides on such an incredibly light and compact device”, notes Bluebox business development manager Hannah Mitchison, “that Ai on iPad mini now provides the perfect choice for any airline with space at a premium that doesn’t want to compromise on its service enhancement, ancillary revenue or service recovery objectives.”

London, UK | January 17, 2013– Content service specialist DMD Phantom continues to innovate its digital IFE proposition with a new games and apps catalogue on its website dmdphantom.com.
The dynamic catalogue launches with over 20 superb titles and will grow as new games are cleared and customised for airline play. Most listings also link to a game-play demo clip on YouTube.

Plans are underway to add a range of non-gaming apps too, and expand the range for Android and other portable platforms.

As a founding content partner of Bluebox Avionics, DMD Phantom has pioneered the provision of advanced touchscreen games for airline tablet solutions. Its range of iOS games are proven retail sellers, pre-selected for a diverse audience of experts and novices, young and old. Easy to learn and to use, they’re the perfect way to let passengers play the long cabin hours away.

All games advertised are specially adapted for use inflight, with redundant features removed, and all are fully licensed for use within Bluebox Ai on Apple iPad.

“While these games are optimized first for Bluebox Ai, we also welcome interest from any airline running or planning an iPad or iPad mini service onboard”, says DMD Phantom’s creative director Stuart McGeachin. “We’re happy to lend our industry knowledge to help resolve any issues they might anticipate – technical or commercial.”
Any enquires about DMD Phantom games can be directed to Business Development Manager Alan McInnes (alan.mcinnes@dawsonmd.com). Or to browse the new catalogue online, visit www.dmdphantom.com.

London, UK | October 31, 2012– Leisure travellers jetting off with Jetairfly, the acknowledged market leader in Belgian tourism, are now enjoying their inflight movies, music and games on brand new iPads.

Bluebox Avionics has been contracted to supply Bluebox Ai, its proprietary inflight entertainment application for Apple iPad, to the Belgian branch of the world’s largest tourism group, TUI Travel. An initial batch of 560 iPad units has been deployed by Jetairfly to coincide with the start of its winter schedule. In the true my-holiday-starts-here spirit of a leisure operator, the airline provides a fun mix of multilingual media and makes best use of the tablet’s trademark touch, swipe and accelerometer functions with a raft of new family-friendly games.

A first for Bluebox and Jetairfly is the provision of daily and weekly local content updates to the iPads in addition to the traditional IFE content.

“With this application for Apple iPad, we are offering our passengers the latest in inflight entertainment, including traditional ingredients such as movies, music and games, but also innovative features such as up-to-date tv-shows, tv-news and daily newspapers”, notes Hans Vanhaelemeesch, Jetairfly Chief Communication Officer. “This once again demonstrates Jetairfly’s commitment to providing our passengers with the highest possible quality of service in a distinctive travel experience.”

The order sustains a rapid increase in Bluebox sales over recent months, with deliveries of around 1,500 in the past few months growing total deployment to well over 6,000 Ai units since it started flying in late 2011.
The increased business reflects a growing recognition among airlines of the superior performance of both the iPad itself and the secure, stable and versatile attributes of the Bluebox solution compared to rival tablet products.

“The selection of Bluebox Ai by Jetairfly is great news for us”, says Bluebox joint MD David Brown. “We know Bluebox Ai will meet their need for a distinctive IFE solution that really engages passenger interest. The iPad is the perfect device for this type of audience, and the implementation of our recently released frequent content update capability sets a new standard for portable IFE.”

London, UK | September 10, 2012– Bluebox Avionics today announces that Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, has selected the Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment system to provide its customers with a superior inflight entertainment experience using iPad. The Bluebox solution will provide El Al customers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content. This will replace the current portable solution that is nearing the end of its life.

Tal Kalderon, Inflight Entertainment Manager at El Al, believes that passengers will be delighted with the features and content of the new system. “The iPad sets the global standard as the preferred device for the delivery of portable inflight entertainment. The Bluebox Ai solution provides access to a rich content set in a package that is engaging to use and intuitive for passengers while being very easy for us to manage.”

“El Al set a very high standard for the customer experience it wanted to deliver with its new IFE solution so we’re delighted that Bluebox Ai has been chosen to deliver on their vision,” said David Brown, joint Managing Director of Bluebox. “El Al joins a rapidly expanding community of airlines that have selected Bluebox Ai. We’re seeing airline partners experiencing utilisation rates of 100% on some flights which is an unprecedented statistic in the world of portable IFE and clear proof that passengers are greatly enjoying our inflight iPad solution.“

Hamburg, Germany | March 30, 2012– Thai Airways International today announced it has appointed Bluebox Avionics to provide its Bluebox Ai inflight entertainment solution for iPad to enhance the Royal Silk class experience.

The initial deployment of 650 iPads will begin June 2012 and provide passengers with early window Hollywood movies and a range of TV, music video and CD content.

Bluebox will also create a custom branded user interface and supply technical and media support services.

Bluebox Avionics is the leader in digital content solutions, utilising the very latest consumer technology to deliver low cost, high value IFE applications for iOS and other digital platforms.

For more information contact us on: info@blueboxavionics.com