Following the biggest event in the aircraft interiors calendar — the mammoth Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg — I jumped at the opportunity to fly Discover Airlines to one of its exotic European locations to test drive AERQ’s new AERENA inflight entertainment (IFE) system, which has been installed on an Airbus A320 (D-AIUQ).
I picked one of my bucket list destinations, Palma De Mallorca, Spain and then travelled first class to Frankfurt via Deutsche Bahn’s Intercity Express train (ICE) to meet the aircraft at the airport (FRA). Tracking a specific aircraft to do a fly along is no easy task, and in this instance required a great deal of flexibility and coordination amongst many teams at Discover.
After overnighting at an airport hotel, I made my way to Terminal 1, section A at FRA for the Discover Airlines priority check-in. It was quick and painless and before I knew it I was walking through Fast Track security on my way to the Lufthansa Business Lounge in Terminal 1, level 2, area A.
With a 20-minute walk to my departure gate, B4, I only had about 30 minutes to enjoy all that the lounge had to offer and quickly grabbed a coffee and croissant.
As I was heading to Gate B4, I could see the aircraft on the side of the terminal and then realized we would have to shuttle bus to the aircraft and carry our hand luggage up the stairs.
As I made my way onboard, I was greeted by the crew who were very friendly. The cabin looked fresh and clean. I put my luggage in the overhead bin and took my seat in 1D to prepare for the 2 hour 24 minute flight to Palma De Mallorca!
Shortly before takeoff, a welcome drink was offered and I opted for a diet cola. The crew then performed the safety demonstration and off we went. After takeoff the meal was served and I received the vegetarian option I had requested. It was a tasty pasta dish with veggies. Overall, the food was fresh, appetizing and delivered on time and at just the right temperature.
I started reviewing the inflight entertainment system once we reached 10K ft as I was in a bulkhead seat and the monitor had to be stowed during taxi, takeoff and landing. With the middle seat blocked in EuroBiz-styled business class, I had access to two screens throughout the flight to try different use cases.
I understood this to be a minimum viable product (MVP) and so I was not surprised to find bugs in the software which is common when rolling out new IFE systems. I’ve spoken to many airlines and IFE teams over my career in IFE and have never met any airline that has rolled out a new IFE system embedded or otherwise that didn’t have bugs going into ‘entry into service’, so I didn’t expect this experience to be any different.
It’s also important to note that branding elements, the welcome and onboarding pages, content collections and their positioning as well as the detailed passenger satisfaction questionnaire have been set according to Discover Airlines’ specific requirements. Other airlines may choose to configure the system differently and it’s these choices that can really shape the user’s inflight and entertainment experience. As per AERQ, “the system is configured using AERENA Experience Studio, which is a cloud-based product suite designed for airline users to customize the passenger experience”.
The system performed well in business class, completing all the functions it was designed to do at this juncture in development. The flight map by popular moving map supplier FlightPath3D as ever did not disappoint. There were reports of IFE outages in certain rows in economy so the streaming entertainment option was enabled to ensure no one went without entertainment.
AERQ made a representative available to support the fly along and he was seated in 4D. Towards the end of the flight I switched seats with the AERQ representative so I could continue testing on descent as the monitor didn’t have to be stowed. I was fortunate to also see the crew panel mounted in the galley and how it interacts with the seats and cabin systems to manage the experience.
Taking an inflight entertainment product from a vision to a reality is no mean feat. AERQ has successfully launched AERENA on Discover Airlines and the two are continuing to improve the experience to deliver their vision for inflight entertainment onboard.
The system is still in its infancy in terms of roadmap and when comparing available features on other stalwart IFE systems. However, there is a roadmap, a vision and fierce determination to continually improve the product, so time will tell how this partnership unfolds.
And before we knew it, we were landing in beautiful Palma de Mallorca! Y Viva España!
Check out my interview with AERQ director of marketing, communications & partnerships Verena Bintaro at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.
All embedded photos credited to the author, Corinne Streichert. Featured image credited to Discover Airlines
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