Air Serbia has selected Bluebox Aviation Systems to trial its digital passenger experience platform on narrow-body aircraft. Hosted on the Bluebox Wow portable wireless system in its battery-operated format, the technology has been initially installed on one ATR72-600 (registered YU-ALW) and two A320s (YU-APO and YU-APS). As announced by the carrier’s CEO back in March, passengers will have the ability to stream entertainment content to their own devices. Customised with Air Serbia branding and available in three languages, the platform is configured for the trial to include entertainment, a moving map, and passenger feedback surveys. Passengers onboard will not be required to download an app, rather, content will be available upon linking through the technology through the device’s browser.

Commenting on the development, Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, said, “We have committed to plans to digitally transform our operations and today we are taking a great step towards doing so in our onboard customer experience by introducing Bluebox’s Blueview technology. Backoffice transformations have their challenges, but we have learned that when testing within a live service environment it’s even more critical that you think like your passengers. We know that habits changed over the pandemic – doing more on personal devices, including streaming entertainment. Our assessment of what is available in the market combined with recommendations from other airlines assured us that Blueview was the best option to test demand with paying passengers”. Bluebox’s Vice President for Global Sales, Kevin Birchmore, added, “We’re excited by how much we can test with Air Serbia in such a short space of time with this proof of concept – things move fast in the world of the digital cabin, and we have to be agile to respond to both our customers and their customers’ needs”.

Other carriers utilising Bluebox technology include Royal Jordanian Airlines, Air Malta, Play, El Al, Jetstar, Air Transat and Vistara to name a few. Bluebox Wow is the size of a lunchbox – lightweight, and easily deployed in overhead lockers. It is scalable and available in a portable battery-operated version or a certified solution with a fitted partition, aircraft power, and further options such as PA pause. During its boutique-era service concept up until 2018, Air Serbia provided an “Elevate Play” application, enabling passengers to stream a select number of movies, TV shows and music through tablets, laptops, mobiles and other hand-held devices on its Airbus fleet.