Positive Disruptors
Corendon Dutch Airlines partners AirFi to enable in-seat ordering
In the latest edition of our column series in partnership with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, we report on an innovative plan to boost airline ancillary revenues by allowing passengers to have products delivered directly to their seats. By Mark Lane.
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Corendon Dutch Airlines, the charter airline servicing the Netherlands branch of Corendon Group, is partnering with AirFi to boost ancillary revenues with the launch of a new inflight food & beverage and duty free ordering service. AirFi is the long-term cabin technology and inflight entertainment (IFE) partner of Corendon Group and has developed the Corendon Café digital portal to enable passengers to have products delivered directly to their seat during the flight. The deployment of this new system marks the airline’s latest step towards enhancing the passenger experience, reducing waste and optimising ancillary revenue opportunities. Passengers need simply to connect with Corendon’s AirFi-powered streaming IFE and shopping platform using their own mobile devices by selecting the appropriate wifi network onboard. They can then fill their virtual shopping baskets with their chosen items and place their order. Airline cabin crew are notified of the order on their tablets, marking the request as ‘in progress’ or ‘complete’ for other crew members to see.
When the order is ready, a crew member will deliver the items to the passenger’s seat, at which time the bill is settled via a payment card. Corendon Dutch Airlines Manager of Cabin Crew and Inflight Sales Gert-Jan de Vries said: “Since COVID-19 began, passengers have been asked not to walk about the cabin, and since childhood, most of us were taught not to press the flight attendant call button unless absolutely necessary. “This is very courteous, but not ideal if the passenger really would like to buy some duty free or have a refreshment. With AirFi’s in-seat ordering, we provide a more discreet way for our guests to request what they want, when they want it. “The result is that our guests are more content during the flight, and as an airline we earn additional revenue that might have otherwise been lost.”
Corendon Dutch Airlines’ adoption of the AirFi-developed F&B and duty free ordering system will help the carrier to maximise ancillary revenues
The Corendon Café platform is fully integrated with AirFi’s ePOS (electronic point of sale) solution and IFE system, which manages backend admin on the inflight sales. The in-seat ordering service is fully controlled by the crew who, once IFE streaming system has been turned on, will perform a traditional trolley service. They will then activate the new ordering feature, thus allowing passengers to purchase extra snacks and drinks, in doing so extending the opening hours of the onboard shop. AirFi observed that this additional time to make purchases and lift ancillary revenue is critical as aviation recovers financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The F&B available via Corendon Café includes a wide array of snacks, hot and cold drinks, as well as warm meals such as soup and pizza, and regional favourites such as Stroopwafels and Broodje kroket, a popular Dutch sandwich consisting of a deep-fried kroket inside a soft bread roll or a bun. Crew are also able to monitor stock levels through the staff-facing side of the new system, marking products as out of stock when they become unavailable. The airline is currently trialling optimised loading using data from the AirFi ePOS solution to help drive down operational costs without compromising sales opportunities. AirFi CEO Job Heimerikx said: “Corendon has been a partner of AirFi for many years and we’re incredibly excited to announce that they are the first European airline to adopt our ground-breaking in-seat ordering capabilities. “By offering hybrid service that begins with the traditional trolley service then switches to in-seat ordering, Corendon is truly maximising the potential of its onboard retail programme.” In 2020, AirFi and Singaporean low-cost carrier Scoot launched ScootHub with in-seat ordering in a regional first. The initiative facilitated a shift from printed menus and inflight magazines at each seat to a fully digital solution, saving the airline 156 tonnes of paper annually.
The AirFi system enables cabin crew to react quickly to passenger orders and access information on the availability of products
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The Moodie Davitt eZine Issue 306 | 18 February 2022
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