Anand Kumar (name changed) was prepared to take a nap during his nearly two-hour long economy class GoAir flight from Mumbai to Delhi. The low-cost carrier (LCC), he thought, would not have any entertainment on board. He was wrong.
Hardly was he airborne, the airhostess asked, “Sir, would you like to try our in-flight entertainment system?” Kumar looked amused. There was no small television (TV) embedded in the seat in front of him. “You must be joking,” he said. The airhostess smiled and handed him a device she referred to as a Mint Pod—My Interactive Nano TV. Kumar scanned the device. It was a 5.3-inch interactive screen, with a variety of pre-loaded content (to last for 35 hours) —from blockbuster movies to fashion shows, cartoons, travel shows, music and more.
There was, however, a small catch. The service cost Rs 150. Kumar was a bit reluctant, but when the airhostess told him that a Rs 299 DVD was offered with the service—one which he could take home, he at once paid up and enjoyed music and films during his journey.
The device, the Mint Pod, was made possible by the initiative of a Mumbai-based firm, IP Avenue. Initially, the company introduced the device in the business class of GoAir flights—Go Business. The charge for the service was included in the tickets.
From June 1, the airlines started the paid module, through which passengers have to pay a fee of Rs 150 for the device. On June 6, IP Avenue rented out a record 200 pieces. The device has been installed in all the 133 GoAir flights.
IP Avenue is the complete solution provider for GoAir. It has signed a contract with the carrier for providing in-flight entertainment. The devices have been sourced from the US and IP Avenue has invested in the project.
The battery life of the device is 10 hours, enough to last for back-to-back trips in India. It is a light-weight device, which comes along with a stand and can be watched by placing it on the food tray table. The Mint Pod’s content is encrypted, aviation copyrighted and one can listen to it with the help of headphones. It allows one to easily browse between channels and even fast-forward, pause and rewind.
The initial response to this device was extremely low. However, it has improved gradually. These devices are mainly in demand on weekends.
Chetan Shah of IP Avenue said: “We have tied up with Eros Entertainment for the content of the Mint Pod. Along with a huge array of content, they also promote the particular airlines, and information on various routes and promotional offers are shown”. The company is mainly focusing on Asia and West Asian countries and would gradually consider expanding.
Shah said, “Our content is upgraded once in a month, when team members fly to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. There is a content upgradation rack which charges the batteries of the devices and beams in the content.” On a regular basis, there are ground handlers, who keep in count the number of pieces sold, clean the devices and charge the batteries.
On the rationale behind pricing the device at Rs 150, Shah said, “Our aim is low, if there are 180 seats, we are initially aiming at a maximum of 15. Passengers with children generally buy this device to keep the young ones engaged. IP Avenue is in talks with other LCC as well as international carriers.”
The company is promoting the new device through the push-and-pull mechanism, that is, manuals are inserted on the seat pockets, giving the details of the menu on the Mint Pods for the month. The crew members also provide details of the product on board. There are also talks of setting up kiosks, in which the passengers, just after the security check, can collect the devices. This would keep the boarders engaged for longer durations. The company is in talks with various airports and is trying to secure the approvals to set up their own kiosks inside the airport facility.
Another LCC, SpiceJet, seems to be in no hurry to bring in-flight entertainment. A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “We do not have in-flight entertainment and have no such plans of starting soon. We only have our in-flight magazine.”
Bigger players like Kingfisher Airlines have already seen what in-flight entertainment can do for the brand. Kingfisher flights have LCD TV screens for each passenger, allowing them to choose between five video channels or tune in to Kingfisher Radio. For its first class passengers, there is an extra-wide 8.4-inch LCD swivel screen fitted on every seat. The in-flight entertainment for Kingfisher Airlines is managed by content service provider, Matrix Publicities & Media India , (a WPP Company). Shabana Sarguro, director (content acquisition), said, “We get our content from about 80 vendors across the world. In domestic flights, the content is upgraded on a weekly basis and on the international flights, it is refreshed each month”.
Leading airlines, like Jet Airways, provide in-flight entertainment on select domestic routes. According to an official spokesperson of Jet Airways, “The in-flight entertainment in Jet Airways is available on select routes and aircraft types within India. It is more on the international flights.”
