Deutsche Telekom is providing a new in-flight Wi-Fi portal to Cathay Pacific’s fleet of Airbus A350s (A350-900 pictured above), A330s, and Boeing 777s. (Cathay Pacific)
Cathay Pacific is preparing to launch a new in-flight Wi-Fi portal supplied by Deutsche Telekom to streamline the in-flight Wi-Fi login, payment system, and sign-on process for passengers.
The selection of Deutsche Telekom, the German broadband mobile communications provider, will bring pre and post-flight capabilities to Cathay’s fleet of connected aircraft. Cathay features Gogo 2Ku on its fleet of Boeing 777s and Panasonic Avionics on its Airbus A330/350 fleets.
“The single portal approach will allow Cathay Pacific to continuously launch new features harmonized over all platforms independent of the connectivity solution,” Deutsche Telekom said in an Oct. 14 press release.
“In today’s highly connected world, providing a truly seamless and consistent Wi-Fi experience for our passengers is important to ensuring we are always delivering on that commitment,” said Vivian Lo, general manager of customer experience and design at Cathay Pacific. “This new partnership with Deutsche Telekom provides us with a robust platform that offers the versatility and consistency necessary to meet the needs of both our airlines and our customers.”
According to Deutsche Telekom’s website, their Wi-Fi portal is also used by Air France, Garuda Indonesia, Lufthansa, and Virgin Atlantic among others. Their portal is enabled by a software development kit provided to airlines who customize the interface, login process, and payment methods for passengers while also syncing it to their respective in-flight connectivity service.
The portal also includes a post-flight reporting system that allows airlines to analyze trends across passenger engagement.
The new in-flight Wi-Fi portal supports a variety of digital payment methods, including Amazon and PayPal. (Deutsche Telekom)
“Deutsche Telekom has proven to be a reliable partner offering strong support and high flexibility, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to enhance the Wi-Fi experience we provide to our passengers through this new portal,” she added.
The selection of the portal comes as the Hong Kong-based airline continues to experience the financial impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Last month, Cathay Pacific Group reported a 98 percent year over year revenue passenger kilometer decrease for August 2020 compared to the same period a year ago. Passenger load factors were also down by 60 percentage points in August, and through the first eight months of the year, the number of passengers carried by Cathay has dropped by 82 percent year over year.
Cathay expects to start rolling out the new service across its A350 later this year, followed by the 777 and A330 fleet.