Coffee Mug · Dossier No. 04
Practices / 04 · Inflight Entertainment
Compiled May 2026
File 04 / 05 · Practice dossier

Software for
Inflight
Entertainment.

For IFEC vendors, airlines, and passenger-experience teams

We build the web software around inflight entertainment: onboard passenger portals, lounge streaming sites, CMS platforms, and live-event applications designed for constrained connectivity.

§ 01

Proven in live airline entertainment

Field-tested in airline entertainment products, including a low-connectivity live sports app used by 50k+ passengers, generating 1M+ interactions and recognised at the Onboard Hospitality Awards 2025.

Read the live sports inflight app case study →

§ 02

Who this is for

We work with teams building and operating digital products around airline entertainment, passenger experience, and content delivery.

That includes IFE vendors, airline digital teams, content service providers, airport lounge entertainment providers, and media or streaming teams working in aviation environments.

Typical products include passenger portals, onboard and offboard content workflows, lounge streaming experiences, CMS platforms, live-event applications, and operational tools. Most sit between passenger experience, content operations, and airline delivery constraints.

§ 03

When teams bring us in

Teams usually come to us when they need to move an inflight or passenger-experience product forward without expanding the core internal team.

That may mean building a new passenger-facing portal, extending an existing IFE product, improving a CMS or content workflow, preparing a lightweight application for constrained connectivity, or integrating onboard and offboard systems.

We are a good fit when a product sits across passenger experience, content or media, integrations, CMS, analytics, security requirements, and the realities of aviation environments — whether it is a passenger-facing application, an operational tool, a CMS platform, or a systems integration.

§ 04

The product layer around airline entertainment.

Airline entertainment is no longer only a seatback screen or a content server. A large part of the experience now happens through web products passengers actually touch: portals, catalogues, lounge sites, streaming pages, and live-event interfaces.

Those products have to look simple, but they sit on top of content rights, availability windows, aircraft or lounge constraints, device differences, and unreliable network conditions.

§ 05

What we actually build.

We build entertainment portals for airlines: passenger-facing websites that present movies, series, music, games, magazines, and other content available on board.

We also build lounge streaming experiences, main lounge websites with CMS-backed content, and web applications for live sporting events that can keep working when connectivity is limited.

We often fit best as a specialist engineering partner for teams that already own the airline relationship, product roadmap, or content operation.

§ 06

What we don't do.

We don't build aircraft hardware, seatback units, satellite links, or avionics systems. We also don't sell or license entertainment content.

Our work is the software layer around those systems: the passenger experience, the editorial and operational tooling, and the delivery logic that makes entertainment usable across lounges and aircraft.

● What we build

Five product layers around the passenger experience.

The work is not one monolithic IFE system. It is a group of web products that connect airline content, passenger interfaces, and operational control.

01

Onboard entertainment portals

Passenger-facing portals that show what content is available on board, with categories, details, availability rules, and device-friendly interfaces.

02

Airport lounge streaming sites

Websites that let lounge guests browse and stream selected content before the flight, aligned with lounge access, rights, and brand requirements.

03

Lounge websites and CMS

Main lounge websites and editorial tools for managing pages, offers, content blocks, schedules, and service information without developer support.

04

Low-connectivity live sports apps

Web applications for presenting live sporting events on board, designed around intermittent connectivity, cached state, and clear fallbacks.

05

Content and operations tooling

Admin panels, APIs, content models, reporting screens, and workflows that help airline teams manage entertainment products day to day.

Margin note
Airlines rarely need one more entertainment platform. They need the software around the content: a portal passengers understand, a CMS teams can actually operate, and web experiences that still work when connectivity is limited.
— Practice note · Coffee Mug
● Widget · How we engage

From passenger journey to operable product.

Phase 01

We map the journey.

We identify the passenger flows, content rules, editorial needs, connectivity limits, and systems the product has to integrate with.

Phase 02

We build the slice.

A small team designs and ships a focused product slice — portal, lounge site, CMS, streaming flow, or live-event experience — with real operational constraints included.

Phase 03

We make it operable.

We leave airline teams with maintainable code, clear CMS workflows, documented APIs, monitoring, and runbooks for launch and support.

● Appendix A — capabilities

Passenger, content, and operations capabilities.

PORTAL
Onboard entertainment portals
Passenger-facing catalogues, content detail pages, availability rules, responsive UI, and integration with content systems.
LOUNGE
Lounge streaming experiences
Browse-and-play websites for airport lounges, with access-aware flows and brand-aligned presentation.
CMS
Lounge and content CMS
Editorial tooling for pages, offers, schedules, content blocks, and day-to-day updates by non-technical teams.
LIVE
Low-connectivity live events
Live sporting event presentation for onboard use, with caching, degraded modes, and resilient state handling.
OPS
Operations and reporting tools
Admin panels, APIs, content workflows, usage views, and support screens for airline and partner teams.
● File 05 / 05

Bespoke Systems + AI

On software for business processes too specific, valuable, or interconnected to fit an off-the-shelf product.

Brief us

Have an airline entertainment product that needs to work across passengers, content, and constrained connectivity?