UK. Bristol-based BOM has picked up a second major customer for its advanced, wireless inflight sales system. The award of the hardware and software project tendered by the Cyprus Airways group, including Eurocypria Airlines, was confirmed today.
BOM/Clue Trader business development consultant Victor Pinies told The Moodie Report: “This is a very exciting time for Cyprus Airways. They have dramatically increased sales and they needed more complexity and power.”
Last year (The Moodie Report, 10 June 2003) UK charter carrier Britannia became the first airline to employ the BOM wireless solution, which is designed to enable cabin crew and pilots to access a wide variety of information including email, flight crew rosters, health and safety information and duty free point of sale applications, to drive promotions and food & beverage sales.
The Cyprus Airways group, including the Cyprus Airways Duty Free Shops, saw its sales rise last year aided by a redesigned duty free catalogue in April.
BOM believes the increasing demand to handle the fast pace of food service sales on low-cost and other airlines is becoming an important factor in airlines’ technical requirements, and in the development of its latest Skyport Plus and Skypad Plus versions. “Food spend per passenger is so much higher than duty free. In our system, food sales are seamless and this technology is ready today,” said Pinies.
“But many US airlines are testing cheaper systems, with whatever computer will do the job. That is a move from the past, where companies like ours had to provide a higher specification and a lot of technical guarantees. With European and Asian airlines still looking for more advanced systems, the market is becoming sectorised,” he said.
Meanwhile BOM confirmed it has won other tenders and is in initial talks with at least one blue chip European airline for the Skyport Plus and wireless system, which features an extra PDA with master memory inside the docking station for better tracking of sales and sophisticated stock controls. The company is also working on other new wireless applications, which could extend into the areas of cruiselines and even entertainment as more and more aircraft, such as those of Emirates and Lufthansa, become wireless enabled.
The issue of chip-and-pin certification – using credit cards with a smart chip where customers enter their own PIN for additional security – will become another issue for airlines in the near future.
The UK retail market is currently leading in this area and a pilot proof of chip-and-pin sales is expected by next year. Other countries such as Europe, South Africa and Singapore are following with implementation by the end of 2005. The fact that such sales require a card reader that a customer – possibly in a window seat – can key their own security number into is expected to drive the move to wireless technology onboard. And in future, banks are insisting that retailers using the old magnetic card readers will be automatically responsible for fraudulent action.
“For us developers, this is the biggest issue,” said Pinies. “By 2005 every credit card will have a chip and the [inflight] service needs to be as fast as what you see in a bar or pub.
“You cannot use touch screens for PIN. It needs an external device [that the passenger can key into] and this needs hard and complex rules for hardware. But with the additional security, airlines can handle higher minimum transactions up to US$500 to US$1,500 and this is an opportunity.”
See also www.chipandpin.co.uk
