Piksel And Spafax to Transform In-flight Entertainment For Today’s Connected Travellers

Piksel,a global leader in building successful online video businesses, today announced its partnership with Spafax, global content and media agency to the travel industry. The partnership will develop and launch innovative solutions to the market, the first of which being Voyage, a revolutionary new approach to in-flight entertainment which has already been adopted by Transavia a major European low-cost carrier.

Voyage leverages the video delivery capabilities of Piksel Digital Showcase™, Piksel’s video-on-demand platform, giving airlines greater ownership over the passenger’s journey. In tune with the growing “Bring Your Own Device” trend, Voyage enables consumers to select and download video content to their personal devices, prior to boarding a flight. This opens up a raft of possibilities for airlines to engage with passengers, both pre- and post-flight, as they use the app to choose from a wide range of premium TV shows and films, access and update their booking, and make other travel arrangements.

Mark Christie, CTO of Piksel commented: “There is a huge opportunity for airlines to delight their customers both on the ground and in the air. A flexible entertainment solution that can be integrated seamlessly into other airline systems is a smart way to extend the passenger experience throughout the travel journey. Using a ‘Download on the Ground’ approach, Voyage doesn’t rely on on-board WiFi to deliver high quality entertainment. For these reasons, we believe that Voyage is a major disruptor and will quickly become a highly attractive option for global airlines. Our experience in delivering video to consumers wherever they are, across all devices, coupled with Spafax’s unrivaled content curation and operational expertise will allow us to shift entertainment on the move to the next level.”

“We have always been at the forefront of innovation in onboard content and revenue generation, and the launch of Voyage is no exception. Voyage will enhance the current entertainment strategies of many carriers and open the door to low-cost content solutions for a whole host of others,” said Niall McBain, CEO of Spafax.  “Partnering with Piksel, and their expertise in the online video space, has allowed us to rapidly bring to market a new service. Our knowledge of content and the demanding needs of global airlines complements their technical know-how extremely well, and we look forward to working and developing innovative new products that enhance the passenger experience.”

The service opens up a raft of flexible commercial models, allowing partners to choose from free-of-charge, pay-to-access or pay-per-view systems. Its revenue-generating business model, combined with low set-up and running costs, and the opportunity to build in sophisticated brand-enhancing advertising strategies, positions Voyage as a step-change for the video and airline industries.

Voyage greatly enhances the user experience, leveraging the high quality screens found on user devices, and is compatible across iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. The content is locked until the passenger boards the flight, when it then becomes available to view. Once the flight has ended, the content is automatically deleted from the device, respecting all airline industry content licensing agreements with secure content delivery achieved by the DRM functionality of Piksel Digital Showcase™.