Inmarsat, recently acquired by Viasat, has added yet another award win to its shelf, with its OneFi passenger engagement platform recognised by the Onboard Hospitality Awards as an innovation that’s ‘One to Watch’ within the aviation industry.

At the awards ceremony, held at the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) in Hamburg last night, the judges commended OneFi for helping airlines to harness the full potential of inflight connectivity — extending its value beyond simply offering passengers onboard Wi-Fi packages.

In providing airline branding, a targeting engine, media players, and ancillary integration, the platform enables a custom passenger experience with a range of inflight services and content features, while simultaneously driving monetisation through targeted content, digital commerce, and advertising and sales lead generation.

The judges praised OneFi as a tool for airlines to be able to recoup the cost of their connectivity investments, putting them back in control of expanding and diversifying their revenue streams as the industry returns to full capacity.

The award win is the second for OneFi since its launch in 2021, with the Aviation Innovation Awards bestowing top honours upon OneFi in its ‘New Technology Innovation’ category last December. The judges recognised the platform as an ‘innovative step change for airlines’, praising its unique ability to bring together a diverse range of inflight services.

William Huot-Marchand, Senior Vice President of Inflight Connectivity, Inmarsat, said “We’ve never underestimated the potential of inflight connectivity to transform global aviation. OneFi is the result of our continued efforts to develop a solution for airlines that not only strengthens their passenger experience offering, but also enables them to unlock previously untapped revenue streams. We’re honoured that OneFi has been recognised once again as a trailblazer in the industry, and we look forward to continuing to work with airlines to genuinely transform their passengers’ inflight experience.”

Sue Williams, Founder, Onboard Hospitality Awards, and Publisher, Onboard Hospitality Magazine, added “The 2023 Onboard Hospitality Awards recognises innovation and excellence in people, products and services that support the onboard passenger experience, helping the industry to recover post-pandemic. Inmarsat’s OneFi was a ground-breaking entry in our ‘One to Watch’ category, and our judging panel were impressed by the platform’s ability to unlock value for airlines while improving time spent onboard for passengers. It’s an innovation that is reinventing and redefining what it means to be connected while in the air, and we look forward to seeing how the platform evolves in the coming months and hope to see them onboard very soon.”

SAUDIA, the national carrier of Saudi Arabia, was the first airline to select OneFi in late 2021 for its upcoming fleet of Airbus A321neo and Airbus A321XLR aircraft. OneFi will serve as a catalyst for SAUDIA to create their desired digital experience, with contextual information, enabling passengers to access in-flight services without leaving the comfort of their seats. Further airline customers are set to be announced in the coming months.

Inmarsat announced OneFi bundles in October 2022 – a modular approach to OneFi’s wealth of features. It enables airlines to select and pay for bundles of features as and when they need them, with the ability to launch everything at once, or incrementally over time. The core module, OneFi Connect, offers connectivity and ISP functionality, while Airline ID, Loyalty, Entertainment, Media, Advertising, and Shop offer airlines more control over how they build a customised digital onboard experience.